![]() | Authors, American - 20th century - Biography. Blake Bailey is the editor of a two-volume edition of Cheevers work, published in 2009 by The Library of America. National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, 2009.Ĭheever, John. "I was born into no true class," Cheever mused in his journal, "and it was my decision, early in life, to insinuate myself into the middle class, like a spy, so that I would have an advantageous position of attack, but I seem now and then to have forgotten my mission and to have taken my disguises too seriously." Written with unprecedented access to essential sources - including Cheever's massive journal, only a fraction of which has ever been published - Blake Bailey's biography reveals the troubled but strangely lovable man behind the disguises, an artist who delighted in the everyday radiance of the world while yearning, above all, "to be illustrious."-BOOK JACKET "From the acclaimed author of A Tragic Honesty: The Life and Work of Richard Yates comes the unforgettable life of John Cheever (1912-1982), a man who spent much of his career impersonating a perfect suburban gentleman, the better to become one of the foremost chroniclers of postwar America. ![]() Blake Bailey’s biography fails to do justice to the sacred and profane swagger of that writing or its sheer comedy, and it may be Cheever’s lot to remain exclusive. ![]() ![]() Cheever : a life / Blake Bailey Book Bib ID As Updike remarks in his review, Cheever’s life may not have brought him much pleasure, but his writing is full of itand not only pleasure but joy. ![]()
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