A memoir by Cheever's daughter

A link to the memoir written by Cheever's daughter Susan, titled Home Before Dark, in which she reveals his bisexuality and other facets of Cheever's private life.

Awards won by Cheever

Here's a timeline of awards won by Cheever!

An analysis of the life of John Cheever

Here's a link to James Wolcott's critical analysis of the life of Cheever in Vanity Fair. Wolcott examines how Cheever's own experience with alcoholism and self-loathing guided Cheever's stories.

NPR Podcast of "Reunion"

John Cheever quotations

A link to famous quotations by Cheever.

Alfred Hitchcock presents "The Five-Forty-Eight"

This is episode 5 from season 6; it's the full episode of Hitchcock's interpretation of "The Five-Forty-Eight."

"The Five-Forty-Eight"

Read the full text of the story here.

Analysis of "The Five-Forty Eight" by Elise Marshall

John Cheever's "The Five-Forty-Eight" is the story of a businessman named Blake who is confronted by his former secretary, the mentally-ill Miss Dent. The entire story is from Blake's perspective, and quickly it becomes apparent that Blake is a flawed character; he drinks, he has a clear disdain for women, and he keeps those around him at a distance. However, it is this distance he creates that causes Blake to have a very distorted perception of reality; one that is perhaps more twisted than the ill Miss Dent.

When Blake first notices Miss Dent outside of his office building one evening, he does not seem to even remember her name. Although he is immediately nervous and afraid as he heads to the train that will take him home from the city, he comforts himself by pondering that "he was an insignificant man" and that he "knew no secrets of consequence" that might lead Miss Dent to do him any harm (par. 4). However, as he takes a moment to order a drink at a bar, Blake begins to recall their past interactions and we learn this may not be the case. He remembers hiring her, and how he seemed to "recognize a peculiar feeling of deprivation" (par. 6). It's this same feeling of deprivation perhaps Blake recognizes within himself. Miss Dent admits that prior to Blake hiring her, she has been mentally ill and hospitalized for several months. Through Blake's perception of those on the train, it quickly becomes apparent that he also has been isolated from those around him.

Blake notices his neighbor, who clearly does not care from him. He recounts how the Watkins house is dilapidated and rundown, and seems disdainful that they only rent, not buy. He recalls how his son became friends with the neighbors son, and soon began staying the night and all but moving in next door. Rather than speak with his son, he addresses Mr. Watkins. This is an early sign that Blake is oblivious to what is really occurring in his life. In all actuality, his son probably preferred staying with the Watkins's. But Blake perceives it differently, unaware of whatever strife most likely exists between him and his own son.

Miss Dent ends up following Blake to the train, and as she sits down next to him she makes him aware that she has a gun in her pocketbook and would like to speak with Blake. To himself, Blake has already considered his past relationship with her. We learn that he hired her, one night he asked her for a drink and they ended up at her apartment. They proceed to have a one-night-stand, and Blake considers if there will be any consequences from this night. He believes nothing negative will come from her, but that "her diffidence...promised to protect him of that" (par. 8.) Put in another way, because Miss Dent is shy and modest, he believes there is no way she would do anything harmful. The next day Blake promptly asks personnel to fire her while she is out to lunch. He states that she came by the next day, and he refused to see her; after that, he says he never saw her again.

Of course, that is up until this day on the train. As Miss Dent begins talking to Blake, it becomes apparent that Blake's perception is once again inaccurate. Miss Dent states that she went to his office "every day for three weeks" in an attempt to speak with him (par. 24). From that admission and the fact that she is confidently talking to him now on the train, it seems that Blake's perception of her as shy and weak is incorrect. Blake waits for someone to notice he is being held at gunpoint, but alas, no one does. This is probably due in part to Blake's constant avoidance of those around him. He tries to "summon the calculation self-deceptions with which he sometimes cheered himself" which is the first time Blake admits how he looks at the world is incorrect.

Eventually Miss Dent gets off at Blake's stop in Shady Hill with him. She remarks that the neighborhood is much more run-down and shabby than she had imagined. She then forces Blake to his knees, and then to the ground, in an effort to belittle him, and perhaps make him feel similar to how he had made her feel; that is to say she wanted him to feel helpless and ashamed. She speaks her mind when she says "'I'm better than you, and I shouldn't wast my time or spoil my life like this'" (par. 39). This statement is much closer to reality than Blake's own perception. Once she has made him weep, she walks away to get back on the train. Blake looks around, and as he watches her, he sees her as "small, common, harmless" (par. 40). Immediately past danger, Blake reverts back to his oblivious mindset. He simply dusts off his hat and walks home, content that he is safe, without further contemplation of his reality.

The Enormous Radio: A Study of Technological Addiction by Alan Hartmann

In John Cheever’s classic story “The Enormous Radio”, technology is used as a medium to eavesdrop on others. Jim and Irene Wescott get a radio that can hear the goings-on in the other apartments in their building. She is more concerned about other people’s problems and not addressing her own.

            Cheever starts off by introducing us to the Wescotts, Jim and Irene. They have two kids and live in on the 12^th floor of an apartment building near Sutton Place. They are a normal couple except for their love for music. This love for music is what leads them to buy a new radio. At first, Irene is the only one that hears the other apartments and the sound isn’t clear. Jim doesn’t believe her that the radio hears the other apartments. He has a radio repair man come to the house and fix the radio. Now the sound of the other apartments comes in very clear and Irene becomes obsessed with the goings-on in the other apartments. Soon thereafter, they are listening to the other apartments nonstop.

One night when Jim comes home from work, Irene tells him to go to one of neighbor’s houses because there is a violent domestic dispute going on. He storms into the living room and slams the radio off. He tells her to stop listening to the neighbors. Irene asks him not to fight with her. She names all of the horrible things that are happening to the people around them. This is the first sign that Irene is aware of the problems that are under the surface of the Wescott’s marriage.

The next night at supper they begin to argue about Irene’s spending habits. Cheever really delves into the idea that Irene is blocking out her own problems by judging others’ by their issues. Jim says that Irene is acting as if there is nothing wrong in their marriage and at the same time pointing out the neighbors’ faults. He cites her abortion, her stealing, and how she made another woman’s life awful.

Cheever shows Irene as someone who is very concerned with what her neighbors are doing and how to correct their behaviors instead of addressing some of the things that she has done and needs to work out. The main theme of this story is that people that judge others for their actions often have something that they are ignoring that needs to be dealt with.

Several Cheever Works

Here's a link to The Stories of John Cheever, a collection of some of Cheever's most famous short stories.

Destroyed by Alcohol: a Major Theme in "Reunion" by Cheryl Robertson

The story of “Reunion” by John Cheever shows how he struggled with his own alcoholism and his life as a young boy with his own father.   The story projects how alcohol can interfere with one’s attitude and relationship with his son.  John Cheever will be showing the story through the main character Charlie, who will meet his father after the divorce of his parents 3 years later. 

In the beginning of the story, Charlie writes to his father letting him know that he will be in New York for an hour and half and wants to meet up with him.  Charlie is told by his father’s secretary that he will meet him at 12 o’clock.   When they do meet up, Charlie feels the strangeness that he has with his father and how he knew that he was his father; “but as soon as I saw him I felt that he was my father, my flesh and blood, my future and my doom”.   This is where he shows the love that he has for his father.

 In the second part of the story, his father suggests they go to a restaurant so they can spend time together.  As they go to the restaurant, this is where his father shows his true self with his drinking and boisterous attitude.  At the first place, Charlie’s father shows how rude his behavior is to the service staff, Charlie stated “his boisterousness in the empty restaurant seemed out of place”.   This is when his father’s alcoholism is first seen in the story. He ask the waiter to bring him a couple of Beefeater Gibson’s, when the waiter tells him that he should go somewhere else, due to the rudeness that was shown to him by Charlie’s father.  Charlie’s father had been clapping his hands for service, calling the waiter names and stating “I have a whistle that is audible only to the ears of old waiters”.   As they go from restaurant to restaurant, his father is acting ruder and ruder with each waiter, while getting drunker.  Knowing that his father is getting oblivious, he decides that it was time to leave saying goodbye to his father, his father wants to buy him a paper for his trip but instead of doing something so simple by getting the paper, he feels that he needs to be rude to the newspaper clerk.  As Charlie is ready to get away from his boisterous father, his father states, “Just wait a second.  I want to get a rise out this chap”.  This is when his alcoholism comes to light action. He wants to show off to his son that he is better than anyone that is in the service industry.  This is also the same time that Charlie decides that he does not ever want to see his father again.

As stated in the beginning, Cheever shows the story about a father and son who have not seen each other in three years.  Father and son come together, thinking this will be a good visit, but it turns into a disaster where alcohol destroys a father/son relationship.

Blake Bailey's Analysis of Cheever works

American writer and biographer Blake Bailey analyzes works by John Cheever. He is known for his biography of Cheever titled, Cheever: A Life.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Watch here

Pearson Lit's biography

This is Pearson Literature's biography of Cheever.

Biography link

Here's a link to a Cheever biography by Notable Biographies.

Full movie version of "The Swimmer"

In 1968, a movie version of Cheever's "The Swimmer" was released. This video is the preview of the film, with the option to purchase the full thing!

"The Enormous Radio"

Curious about Cheever's story "The Enormous Radio?" Read it online here.

"The Swimmer"

Read the full text of "The Swimmer"

Major themes in "Reunion" by Sarah Hocutt

The reunion opens with a young man arranging to see his father, whom he has not seen in many years, due to the divorce of his parents.  This opening sets the stage for the theme of this story; we do not choose our families, but rather they are chosen for us.  It was apparent that the young man had many years away from his father when he states his father “was a stranger to [him].”  There is anticipation and happiness upon meeting him, evident by the fact that after meeting him again for the first time he states “as soon as I saw him I knew he was my father.”  The plan for their meeting was to share a meal before the son had to catch a train.  But, as plans seem to do, their meeting did not go as expected. 

His father was very crass and belligerent, as shown in his request for service at the restaurant they entered. He yells, “Could we have a little service here…Chop-Chop.”  The waiter was not pleased with the way he was “summoned.”  The waiter responded “I don’t like to be clapped at.”  So the young son and his father left this restaurant and moved on to another restaurant.  This was a clue to the young man that maybe his father was not the man he had envisioned.  When they go to the next restaurant, the same attitude from his father occurs and they leave that restaurant.  When they arrive at the final restaurant, his father has had a couple drinks and they are refused service.  The actions of the young man’s father showed him a man that was not the father he wanted.  He immediately shortens the visit and wants to leave.  His father, not really sensing his son’s unhappiness, offers to purchase a paper for him to read on the train.  The father’s rudeness surfaces for the final time when he asks the clerk, “is too much for you to sell me one of your disgusting specimens of yellow journalism?” 

At this point of the story the son is done and leaves promptly, never seeing his father again.  The young man began the encounter eager and full of expectation; sadly, the visit ended with disappointment.  We do not have the luxury of choosing our parents, or family.  If we are lucky, we have loving, moral teaching, guides in our lives.  When we see something so disappointing, especially in our parents, sometimes we just have to walk away.  

Buy Cheever!

Want to buy a John Cheever work? Here's a link to available works for purchase on Amazon.

Time magazine cover

John Cheever on the cover of the March 27, 1964 issue of Time.

Cheever's Timeline

Here's a timeline of Cheever's life and major works.

"Reunion"

Check out the full text online of John Cheever's Reunion!

Short bio of John Cheever

Cheever Biography

John Cheever reading "The Swimmer"

"The Cheever Letters" clip from Seinfeld