John Cheever

Author profile

born

May 27, 1912 in Quincy, Massachusetts, The United States

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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Books by John Cheever

Average rating: 3.98 · 9,188 ratings · 779 reviews · 58 distinct works

	The Stories of John Cheever 4.27 avg rating — 3,864 ratings — published 1978 — 20 editions	My rating:
	Falconer 3.62 avg rating — 1,662 ratings — published 1977 — 27 editions	My rating:
	The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever, Rick Moody (Foreword by) 3.73 avg rating — 1,377 ratings — published 1957 — 27 editions	My rating:
	Bullet Park 3.74 avg rating — 553 ratings — 17 editions	My rating:
	Oh What a Paradise It Seems 3.58 avg rating — 318 ratings — published 1982 — 16 editions	My rating:
	The Wapshot Scandal by John Cheever, Dave Eggers (Foreword by) 3.74 avg rating — 234 ratings — published 1963 — 14 editions	My rating:
	Cheever Reads: The Swimmer 4.21 avg rating — 160 ratings — published 1986 — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Journals Of John Cheever 4.20 avg rating — 179 ratings — published 1991 — 10 editions	My rating:
	John Cheever: Collected Stories and Other Writings by John Cheever, Blake Bailey (Editor) 4.42 avg rating — 118 ratings — published 2009	My rating:
	The Enormous Radio 4.02 avg rating — 81 ratings — published 1953 — 5 editions	My rating:

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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

1,295 people liked it

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

33 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

21 people liked it

See all John Cheever's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Next Best Boo...: Mad Men	9	94	Oct 25, 2009 09:30am
Challenge: 50 Books: Collections of Short Stories	15	211	Nov 25, 2009 11:35am
Bookish: Short Stories	2	40	Apr 18, 2010 12:30pm
The Seasonal Read...: Must Reads List (Summer 2010 Task 20.6)	6	148	Jun 24, 2010 08:09pm
Glens Falls (NY) ...: _CHEEVER A Life_ by Blake Bailey (published March 10th 2009)	3	31	Apr 26, 2011 11:36pm
The Polkadots!: Out of the Cult & Beyond	12	27	Aug 26, 2011 01:44pm
Bookish: National Book Award - Fiction	34	126	Oct 13, 2011 07:36am
Bookish: * The Possibilities	3	59	Nov 10, 2011 01:20am
Exceptional Books: Top 100 Authors: Short Stories	17	62	Mar 09, 2012 07:09pm

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John's Fans (117)

John Cheever

Author profile

combine editionsBooks by John Cheever

Quotes by John Cheever

Topics Mentioning This Author

combine editions
Books by John Cheever