The Guardian (Free subscription) | 11/28/2009
A funny, astute and clear-eyed biography of John Cheever impresses Blake Morrison "I have no biography," John Cheever once wrote. "I came from nowhere and I don't know where I'm going." Like many of his claims, it's one to be treated with suspicion. He knew exactly where he came from – an old and illustrious Yankee family, with a weakness for drink and profligacy....
Brit Lit Blogs (Free subscription) | 11/23/2009
It took me a few weeks to read Blake Bailey’s exhaustive and exhausting (770 pages tip to tail) biography of John Cheever. Living with Cheever even for a month was no picnic: as his wife or children would tell you. He was a depressive, conflicted alcoholic, notably “enchained within the prison of self” even for a writer: when his children read some of the thousands...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 11/08/2009
Adam Mars-Jones finds much to relish in Blake Bailey's life of John Cheever – a writer who had an immense capacity for joy but none for happiness Blake Bailey seems to specialise in writing the lives of self-destructive American writers – first Richard Yates , now John Cheever. He may have a full biographical career ahead of him. Cheever breaks the general pattern...
英文人行道 et cetera, et cetera (Free subscription) | 11/28/2009
'Cheever: A Life' By BLAKE BAILEY This detailed biography follows John Cheever’s path step by stumbling step, disclosing the addictive urges and bawling self-pity to which he subjected himself and those in his household. (Knopf, $35.) Review | Excerpt bawling noun has one meaning: Meaning #1 : loud cries made while weeping Synonym: wailing The adjective bawling has one meaning:...
Scotsman.com Living - Books (Free subscription) | 11/21/2009
Cheever: A Life By Blake Bailey Picador, 784pp, £25
New Statesman (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
Return to: | | Cheever:?a?Life By Blake BaileyReviewed by - 19 November 2009 Suburban legendOver the course of two unwieldy books, A Tragic Honesty: the Life and Work of Richard Yates and now Cheever: a Life, Blake Bailey has established himself as the most diligent biographer around. Martin Stannard, in his recent biography of Muriel Spark, enlightened readers with the...
Biting Edge (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
... and nonfiction published in 2009, including the biography “Cheever: A Life,” by Blake Bailey; the novel “Await Your Reply,” by Dan Chaon; and the graphic novel “Stitches,” by David Small. But as The Guardian reports, the ranking has drawn protests from a women’s literary group that notes there are no female writers on the list. Cate Marvin,...
Beattie's Book Blog (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009
... and non-fiction published in 2009, including the biography “Cheever: A Life” by Blake Bailey; the novel “Await Your Reply” by Dan Chaon; and the graphic novel “Stitches” by David Small. But as The Guardian reports, the ranking has drawn protests from a women’s literary group, which notes that there are no female writers on the list. Cate Marvin,...
ArtsJournal (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009
"From Richard Holmes's history of science in the Romantic generation, The Age of Wonder, to Blake Bailey's Cheever: A Life, ... Publishers Weekly's all-male line-up has drawn the ire of a group of female writers."...
ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009
So I read about yet another list of Great Books : The trade publication Publishers Weekly likely wanted to provoke discussion with its annual list of the year's best books, but not like this. In its issue of Nov. 2, Publishers Weekly compiled its PW Top 10, a decidedly subjective ranking of the best fiction and non-fiction published in 2009, including the biography "Cheever: A Life" by Blake...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009
Campaigners incensed after Publishers Weekly's top 10 titles of 2009 ignores female authors US trade magazine Publishers Weekly has come under fire for failing to include a single woman in its list of the top 10 titles of 2009. From Richard Holmes's history of science in the Romantic generation, The Age of Wonder, to Blake Bailey's Cheever: A Life, Geoff Dyer's novel Jeff in Venice,...
Notable Books (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009
PW Top 10 Cheever: A Life by Blake Bailey Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon by Neil Sheehan In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin Big Machine by Victor LaValle The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes Stitches by David Small Shop Class as...
Isak (Free subscription) | 10/29/2009
... Reply by Dan Chaon (Ballantine); Big Machine by Victor LaValle (Spiegel & Grau); Cheever by Blake Bailey (Knopf); A Fiery Peace in a Cold War by Neil Sheehan (Random); In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin (Norton); Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 10/31/2009
... All of this – memoir, letters, journals and, to bring things right up to date, Blake Bailey's excellent new biography – would normally be regarded as retrospective trellising around which the great works could be shown to have blossomed. A degree of shock, in such circumstances, is not unusual. In Cheever's case, the gulf between the received image of the revered author...
Beattie's Book Blog (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009
... Reply by Dan Chaon (Ballantine); Big Machine by Victor LaValle (Spiegel & Grau); Cheever by Blake Bailey (Knopf); A Fiery Peace in a Cold War by Neil Sheehan (Random); In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin (Norton); Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer (Pantheon); Lost City of Z by David Grann (Doubleday); Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford...
