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In Every Way That Matters
"In Every Way That Matters" is a fictional memoir of friendship and redemption. Prompted by a Christmas card from a childhood friend, expatriate Southerner John Archer recalls the tumultuous spring and summer surrounding their last day together. Receding into the lost world of his past, Archer is face to face with his eccentric aunt who rescued him from an orphanage, his brilliant and impetuous friend, his friend's uncle (a roguish civil rights lawyer who personifies life outside the bounds of convention) and the girl who challenged Archer's ambitions as no one else could. And here is corporate lawyer John Archer - wealthy, complacent and unsuspecting of demons lying in wait.
- GenresFiction
286 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 12, 2014
2 people are currently reading
615 people want to read
About the author
William Cheevers
16 books69 followersWilliam Cheevers writes historical fiction with themes of contemporary interest. He also enjoys writing mysteries featuring Chicago private investigator Frank Lydecker, police detective Andrew Brooke and defense lawyer Adrian Tiller in the transitional world of the 1950s. William's favorite writers are Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad, Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Hemingway, Faulkner, Hammett and Chandler, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David McCullough, Jean Edward Smith and Cormac McCarthy and two of the people from history he admires most are Mark Twain and Albert Einstein.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
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February 1, 2019A note from the author: "In Every Way That Matters" is a fictional memoir of turmoil, friendship and awakening arising out of my childhood in the south and my literary interest in the ramifications of race, friendship and ambition. Here is corporate lawyer John W. Archer - wealthy, complacent and unsuspecting of demons lying in wait. I hope readers will gain something of value concerning racial tolerance, obsessive ambition and the endurance of friendship.
Featured Kirkus Review -
A coming-of-age novel set in the south during the civil rights era. Cheevers deals effectively with big ideas, and his characters are both authentic and sympathetic, investing the reader in the choices that they make and the ways they test and express their loyalties to each other and to the world around them.
Solid civil rights era fiction - well worth a read.
Featured Kirkus Review -
A coming-of-age novel set in the south during the civil rights era. Cheevers deals effectively with big ideas, and his characters are both authentic and sympathetic, investing the reader in the choices that they make and the ways they test and express their loyalties to each other and to the world around them.
Solid civil rights era fiction - well worth a read.
Read
February 2, 2019A note from the author: "In Every Way That Matters" is a fictional memoir of turmoil, friendship and awakening arising out of my childhood in the south and my literary interest in the ramifications of race, friendship and ambition. Here is corporate lawyer John W. Archer - wealthy, complacent and unsuspecting of demons lying in wait. I hope readers will gain something of value concerning racial tolerance, obsessive ambition and the endurance of friendship.
Featured Kirkus Review -
A coming-of-age novel set in the south during the civil rights era. Cheevers deals effectively with big ideas, and his characters are both authentic and sympathetic, investing the reader in the choices that they make and the ways they test and express their loyalties to each other and to the world around them.
Solid civil rights era fiction - well worth a read.
Read
February 1, 2019Featured Kirkus Review -
A coming-of-age novel set in the south during the civil rights era. Cheevers deals effectively with big ideas, and his characters are both authentic and sympathetic, investing the reader in the choices that they make and the ways they test and express their loyalties to each other and the world around them.
Solid civil rights era fiction - well worth a read.
A coming-of-age novel set in the south during the civil rights era. Cheevers deals effectively with big ideas, and his characters are both authentic and sympathetic, investing the reader in the choices that they make and the ways they test and express their loyalties to each other and the world around them.
Solid civil rights era fiction - well worth a read.
December 21, 2014
John W. Archer is prompted by a Christmas card from his best friend from youth to recall the turmoil surrounding their last months together. Having grown up as a White in the deep south during a time when Blacks were beginning to speak out against the oppression under which they lived, the narrator is complacent and more of an observer as his friend becomes radicalized. The opening of the book is flat. It didn't draw me in and I actually put the book aside and picked it up again later. I'm glad I did. The real protagonist of the story is the narrator's friend. His is a coming of age experienced at a very volatile time in history and being a passionate person, he embraces change whole heartedly no matter the consequences. It is a powerful story. The book's closing, however, brings us back to the narrator, who seems to have gained nothing from the experience, which I found hard to believe and deflating after reading the main story. All in all, though, it is a book worth reading because the main story is gripping and profound.
March 4, 2016
~I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads~
First off, my real rating is 4.5/5 stars.
When I began reading this book, I knew that I was going to be hooked until I was done. It's got a great narrative voice, and the story carries on well, entertaining and thought provoking at the same time. I liked the characters and the varying opinions they carried, though I'm confused about the ending...not really sure what happened there?
The only reason I took off a half star was because of occasional missing quotation marks and a misuse of you're/your. Sorry, I'm a bit grammar picky :P
(Side note: no matter what the character descriptions said, I couldn't help but keep imagining Hal Crawford as Saul Goodman. Oh well, I tried.)
Overall, I enjoyed this book, and would definitely read other works by Cheevers, should I come across them. :)
First off, my real rating is 4.5/5 stars.
When I began reading this book, I knew that I was going to be hooked until I was done. It's got a great narrative voice, and the story carries on well, entertaining and thought provoking at the same time. I liked the characters and the varying opinions they carried, though I'm confused about the ending...not really sure what happened there?
The only reason I took off a half star was because of occasional missing quotation marks and a misuse of you're/your. Sorry, I'm a bit grammar picky :P
(Side note: no matter what the character descriptions said, I couldn't help but keep imagining Hal Crawford as Saul Goodman. Oh well, I tried.)
Overall, I enjoyed this book, and would definitely read other works by Cheevers, should I come across them. :)
November 14, 2015
This book is a monument to growing up at the beginning of the Civil Rights era in the southern US. It deals with teenage angst, idealism and interracial dating. Should our role models be our parents/guardians or our heros? When do we do what we are told or follow our hearts? The characters make difficult choices and reap the consequences. My thanks to the author and Goodreads for a complimentary copy.
April 29, 2015
This book is a monument to growing up at the beginning of the Civil Rights era in the southern US. It deals with teenage angst, idealism and interracial dating. Should our role models be our parents/guardians or our heros? When do we do what we are told or follow our hearts? The characters make difficult choices and reap the consequences. My thanks to the author and Goodreads for a complimentary copy.
Want to read
October 28, 2014I received a free copy of this book from Goodreads Giveaways. After I've had a chance to finish reading it, I'll post a review. Stay tuned!
Want to read
September 13, 2014I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review, which I will gladly provide when I've had the time to finish reading it and formulate my thoughts. Stay tuned!
March 20, 2019
Through Goodreads, I received an advanced readers copy of this book through the Goodreads Giveaway. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
This is a fictional memoir of John Archer whose parents die in an automobile accident. He is raised by his aunt and uncle and graduating from high school. His best friend, Crawford Smith, since second grade stands by him through thick and thin. Crawford’s uncle, Hal, is an attorney entrenched in civil rights. It gives a touch of “To Kill a Mockingbird” without the drama. It reads like a Young Adult book in that it is a quick and light read. The relationship between friends and parents is a consistent undercurrent throughout the book. The book’s ending is intriguing with Crawford (no spoiler). I recommend this book to anyone who wants a light, quick book to read.
This is a fictional memoir of John Archer whose parents die in an automobile accident. He is raised by his aunt and uncle and graduating from high school. His best friend, Crawford Smith, since second grade stands by him through thick and thin. Crawford’s uncle, Hal, is an attorney entrenched in civil rights. It gives a touch of “To Kill a Mockingbird” without the drama. It reads like a Young Adult book in that it is a quick and light read. The relationship between friends and parents is a consistent undercurrent throughout the book. The book’s ending is intriguing with Crawford (no spoiler). I recommend this book to anyone who wants a light, quick book to read.
September 2, 2020
This is a coming-of-age novel hearkening back to the '60s in the American South. The issues of race, family, societal expectations, and friendship are all raised in this novel. Unlike most novels, this one doesn't come neatly packaged with everyone having a 'happily ever after' at the end; this resembles life more than novel. The characters are not one-dimensional, moving through life with little hiccups in their path; these are people struggling with their life choices and next steps.
I enjoyed this greatly while trying to remember what I as a child in the North remember from those days and how alike or different my experience was. It is a thought-provoking novel and especially interesting to read and to reflect on how much of these attitudes remain the same as we deal with the recent issues of race.
Disclaimer: I won a copy of this book on a Goodreads giveaway.
I enjoyed this greatly while trying to remember what I as a child in the North remember from those days and how alike or different my experience was. It is a thought-provoking novel and especially interesting to read and to reflect on how much of these attitudes remain the same as we deal with the recent issues of race.
Disclaimer: I won a copy of this book on a Goodreads giveaway.
March 30, 2019
Kept my interest throughout
April 15, 2019
I won this Kindle edition book in a GoodReads
Giveaway. Thank you to everyone involved.
Interesting book.
Giveaway. Thank you to everyone involved.
Interesting book.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews