John Cheever Collection Book

John Cheever was the master of the short story. His stories have stayed with me through the years since I first read his collection "The Stories of John Cheever", and this audio edition of twelve of his famous stories are some that I've read before, but a few were new to me. His stories were set in NYC or the surrounding suburbs and dealt with discordance and alienation between family members or of a changing way of life.

The Enormous Radio: A new radio might be a married couple's undoing, as it inexplicitly picks up conversations from the other apartments in the building and the wife becomes intrigued and later despondent on knowing private details of other people's lives. This tale had a sci-fi vibe, and indeed a Tales From The Darkside episode was based on this short story years later. I also think it eerily is a precursor to the way people nowadays get caught up in other lives through Facebook and Instagram and compare themselves negatively to how they think other people are living their lives.

The Five-Forty-Eight: An office man has a one night stand with someone at work and then gets her fired. She follows him onto his train to obtain an act of small revenge against him.

O City of Broken Dreams: A hapless young couple uproot themselves from rural Indiana and head to NYC on an empty promise of an agent who says he can sell the play that the husband wrote. Readers will cringe at how gullible they are and how they are manipulated by more worldly city-goers.

Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor: A very dated story, as modern readers will have little knowledge that some people used to make a living operating elevators. A pitiable man gives a sob story to all the residents of the apartment complex he works at and is overwhelmed at their artificial generosity that will only last Christmas Day.

The Season of Divorce: A couple nears divorce as a doctor becomes enamored with the young wife and tries to convince her to divorce her husband. I thought of the book "The Feminine Mystique" after this story for it showed how many women were not fulfilled if their only roles were wife and mother and were treated as only pretty objects to be manipulated by the men around them.

The Brigadier and the Golf Widow: A sad story about an unhappy married older couple whose husband is taken in by a recent mistress of his to betray his family. The story is a window to the past of the Cold War when bomb shelters were built by some families and appearances trumped decency.

The Sorrows of Gin: So much drinking in these stories! A young girl sees how alcohol is affecting her parents, neighbors and service staff. The speech that the cook gave was so sad, as this was the last era (for the most part) in which you could make a career out of being a cook or maid and live in someone's home.

O Youth and Beauty!: A perfect example of a mid-life crisis, a 40-year-old former track athlete becomes despondent when he can no longer clear hurdles that he would set up a friend's houses during their cocktail parties. The ending gutted me.

The Chaste Clarissa: A scoundrel is determined to seduce a young wife and says whatever it takes to convince her during a summer she is without her husband at Martha's Vineyard.

The Jewels of the Cabots: A journalist reminisces about his Connecticut hometown and reveals the secrets of the Cabots, who masquerade as an upstanding family but who are hiding some substantial secrets. Another example of how appearances hide some dark truths.

The Death of Justina: An odd story about how inane rules almost prevent a funeral, as "the importance of zoning can't be overestimated" is uttered by a pompous mayor.

The Swimmer: A surreal tale of a man at an afternoon party who decides to swim his way home through his neighborhood's pools. I gather more meaning of his journey each time I read (or listen) to the story.

This window into the 1950s and 1960s was filled with suburban angst and shows that that time period wasn't as rosy as many nostalgic people would like to believe. A highly recommended audio if you would like to hear some of Cheever's best stories.