The Stories of John Cheever

The Stories of John Cheever is a Pulitzer Prize-winning collection from 1978 that gathers 61 short stories spanning the author’s career, often called the Chekhov of the suburbs for his masterful depictions of upper-middle-class life in places like Shady Hill, Westchester, or Nantucket. Cheever probes the undercurrents of suburban ennui, where affluent WASPs grapple with alcoholism, loveless marriages, hidden infidelities, and existential disillusionment amid martinis, pool parties, and manicured lawns, blending realism with surreal twists as in The Swimmer, where a man’s backyard odyssey reveals personal ruin. Themes of human duality—polished facades masking inner corruption—and nostalgia for lost community resonate throughout, capturing the alienation of modern life with vivid, shocking prose that elevates the ordinary to profound spiritual depths.