Cheever: A Life (Part 1 of 2 parts)

by Blake Bailey, Malcolm Hillgartner

"I might be forgotten tomorrow," John Cheever once told an interviewer, adding, "it wouldn't bother me in the least." This tight-lipped observer might have been lying, but there is little doubt that the long-lived (1912–82) author who won nearly every extant literary award would be appalled that he is now best remembered in many circles for his bisexuality and a Seinfeld skit about his secret passion. Blake Bailey's biography focuses on the gaping disparity between Cheever's proud Yankee social persona and his lifelong inner turmoil. Cheever: A Life presents a man who could have emerged fully constituted from one of his masterful novels or short stories.

Genres: Biography

9 pages, Audio Cassette

First published March 3, 2009

About the author

Blake Bailey is the author of biographies of Philip Roth, John Cheever, Richard Yates, and Charles Jackson. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Francis Parkman Prize from the Society of American Historians, and a finalist for the Pulitzer and James Tait Black Prizes. His 2014 book, The Splendid Things We Planned, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Autobiography. He lives in Virginia with his wife and daughter.