Andrea asked:

I've never read anything by Cheever and I'd like to read an individual collection rather than this complete works edition. Which one should I start from?

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9 years ago
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Jesse This collection isn't a "complete works edition." He wrote at least 172 short stories, 61 of which are collected here. It omits, largely if not entirely at his request, much of his earlier work (at least 50 stories pre-"The Sutton Place Story," which was first published in 1946). I think your issue will be finding one of his shorter collections that is still in print. If you must do a collection, I like The Brigadier and the Golf Widow, but I would do yourself a favor and read The Stories of John Cheever. Awards don't mean that much, but there's a reason that this collection won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the National Book Award.

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