John Cheever

Author profile

born

in Quincy, Massachusetts, The United States

May 27, 1912

died

June 18, 1982

gender

male

genre

Literature & Fiction, Short Stories, Gay & Lesbian

About this author

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John Cheever was an American novelist and short story writer, sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs" or "the Ovid of Ossining." His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the suburbs of Westchester, New York, and old New England villages based on various South Shore towns around Quincy, Massachusetts, where he was born.

His main themes include the duality of human nature: sometimes dramatized as the disparity between a character's decorous social persona and inner corruption, and sometimes as a conflict between two characters (often brothers) who embody the salient aspects of both--light and dark, flesh and spirit. Many of his works also express a nostalgia for a vanishing way of life, characterized by abiding cult...more

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John Cheever's Books

Average rating: 3.99 · 17,200 ratings · 1,238 reviews · 95 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Stories of John Cheever 4.27 of 5 stars 4.27 avg rating — 6,210 ratings — published 1978 — 22 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Falconer 3.64 of 5 stars 3.64 avg rating — 2,837 ratings — published 1977 — 29 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever, Rick Moody (Foreword by) 3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 avg rating — 2,545 ratings — published 1957 — 32 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bullet Park 3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 avg rating — 828 ratings — published 1967 — 28 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Oh What a Paradise It Seems 3.57 of 5 stars 3.57 avg rating — 440 ratings — published 1982 — 17 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cheever Reads: The Swimmer 4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 avg rating — 297 ratings — published 1964 — 5 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wapshot Scandal by John Cheever, Dave Eggers (Foreword by) 3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 avg rating — 324 ratings — published 1963 — 15 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Journals Of John Cheever 4.16 of 5 stars 4.16 avg rating — 264 ratings — published 1991 — 12 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Collected Stories and Other Writings (Library of America #188) by John Cheever, Blake Bailey (Editor) 4.38 of 5 stars 4.38 avg rating — 194 ratings — published 2009	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Enormous Radio 4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 avg rating — 130 ratings — published 1953 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by John Cheever…

Quotes by John Cheever

“I can’t write without a reader. It’s precisely like a kiss—you can’t do it alone.”
― John Cheever

tags: readers-and-writers

1,459 people liked it

“I've been homesick for countries I've never been, and longed to be where I couldn't be.”
― John Cheever

51 people liked it

“For lovers, touch is metamorphosis. All the parts of their bodies seem to change, and they seem to become something different and better.”
― John Cheever

tags: life-love

29 people liked it

See all John Cheever's quotes »

Polls

March 2013 Short Story Author Poll

**4th option: one additional month with John Cheever (in the event that Cheever has the most votes when this poll ends, I will bring the other 3 authors back for May's poll)

13 votes, 31.7%

Julie Orringer

12 votes, 29.3%

Stefan Zweig

9 votes, 22.0%

Adam Levin

7 votes, 17.1%

41 total votes

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