John Cheever (64 page)

H
OMOSEXUAL LEANINGS:
Interview Saul Bellow, 10 July 1984; JC, typescript 15; JC to Max Zimmer, 12 May 1977; interviews Max Zimmer, 27 June 1984 and 19 July 1984; JC quoted in Susan Cheever, H
OME
B
EFORE
D
ARK
, p. 208; interview Allan Gurganus, 15 September 1984.

P
LEASURES OF SPRING
1976: JC to Dennis Coates, 9 March 1976; “Teens Re-Dial Forebears' 1876 Call,” O
SSINING
C
ITIZEN
R
EGISTER
, 11 March 1976; JC to Allan Gurganus, 23 April 1976; JC to Malcolm Cowley, 24 April 1976; JC to Laurens Schwartz, 19 April 1976 and 23 May 1976.

S
HADOWS OF DEATH:
JC to Sara Spencer, 23 April 1976, 16 June 1976, 3 July 1976, and 4 July 1976; Susan Cheever, H
OME
B
EFORE
D
ARK
, p. 189, 205–6; JC to Allan Gurganus, June 1976; interview Barrett and Jane Clark, 28 June 1984; Howard Kissel, “John Cheever Maintains Family Prestige,” O
SSINING
C
ITIZEN
R
EGISTER
, 20 April 1980, p. D3; JC to Candida Donadio, 5 June 1976.

O
PTIMISM
, R
OMANIA, BIKE ACCIDENT:
“The Novelist,” N
EWSWEEK
, 4 July 1976, p. 36; Bruce Benidt, “Conversations with John Cheever,” MI
NNEAPOLIS
S
TAR
, 30 December 1978, p. 10; JC, “Romania,” T
RAVEL &
L
EISURE
, March 1978, pp. 86–87; JC to Laurens Schwartz, 7 August 1976; interview Philip Schultz, 27 June 1984; JC to Allan Gurganus, 1976.

B
ENNINGTON
, C
ORNELL
, H
ARDWICK:
Stephen Sandy to SD, 22 September 1984; JC to Allan Gurganus, 30 November 1976; interview James and Gladys McConkey, 10 July 1984; JC, “The Melancholy of Distance”; interview Frederica Kaven, 31 January 1987; JC, “An Exchange on Fiction,” N
EW
Y
ORK
R
EVIEW OF
B
OOKS
, 3 February 1977, p. 44.

U
TAH
, M
AX:
Interview Dave Smith, 30 January 1985; interview Max Zimmer, 27 June 1984; JC quoted in Susan Cheever, H
OME
B
EFORE
D
ARK
, p. 207; JC to Max Zimmer, 24 February 1977; Max Zimmer journal.

SUCCESS

F
ALCONER
, N
EWSWEEK:
JC to Max Zimmer, winter 1977; “John Cheever: Did N
EWSWEEK
Make Him a Bestseller?” C
ODA:
P
OETS &
W
RITERS
N
EWSLETTER
, 5, i (1977), p. 26; interview Burton Benjamin, 19 June 1984; John Firth, “Talking with John Cheever,” S
ATURDAY
R
EVIEW
, 2 April 1977, p. 23.

F
ALCONER:
CHANGE, CONFINEMENT, LOVE:
Saul Bellow, “On John Cheever,” N
EW
Y
ORK
R
EVIEW OF
B
OOKS
, 17 February 1983, p. 38; interview Curtis Harnack and Hortense Calisher, 17 September 1984; SD, “John Cheever: Redemption in Cellblock F,” M
INNEAPOLIS
T
RIBUNE
, 3 April 1977, p. 140; John Hersey, “Talk,” p. 24; JC, typescript 19; Hunt, H
OBGOBLIN
, pp. 272–73; interview James and Gladys McConkey, 10 July 1984; Robert G. Collins, “From Subject to Object and Back Again: Individual Identity in John Cheever's Fiction,” T
WENTIETH
C
ENTURY
L
ITERATURE
, Spring 1982, pp. 9–10; Peter Costa, “A Wasp Author Discusses Wasps,” B
OSTON
H
ERALD
A
MERICAN
, 4 May 1977.

R
EVIEWS OF
F
ALCONER:
Interview John Leonard, 23 October 1984; interview Morris Lurie, 16 December 1985; John Gardner, “On Miracle Row,” S
ATURDAY
R
EVIEW
, 2 April 1977, p. 20; Saul Bellow to JC, 23 November 1976; Joan Didion, “Falconer,”
New York Times Book Review
, 6 March 1977, pp. 1, 22; Joyce Carol Oates, “An Airy Insubstantial World,” O
NTARIO
R
EVIEW
, fall-winter 1977–78, pp. 99–101; Susan Cheever Cowley and JC, “A Duet,” p. 68; Margaret Manning, “I Wanted It to Go On Forever,” B
OSTON
S
UNDAY
G
LOBE
, 20 March 1977.

M
ARRIAGE OF PERVERSITY, STAYING POWER:
Interview Federico and Mary Cheever, 10 February 1985; Callaway, interview with JC, 15 October 1981; JC, typescript 19; interview Francis Steegmuller and Shirley Hazzard, 17 January 1985; interview Dennis Coates, 8 October 1984; interview Grace Schulman, 16 September 1984; interview Allan Gurganus, 16 September 1984; interview Rick Siggelkow, 24 July 1984; Susan Cheever, “Mothers by Daughters,” Channel 4 television show, New York, January 1985; Shirley Silverberg, “A Talk with John Cheever,” pp. 67–68; Susan Cheever Cowley and JC, “A Duet,” p. 69; interviews MC, 28 June 1984 and 20 October 1984; interview Aline Benjamin, 5 July 1984; interview John Bukovsky, 5 July 1984; Jovanovich, “Mary Cheever on Her Own,” p. A3.

L
ANG
, A
MES
, Z
IMMER:
Tape recording, Joseph Barbato interview with JC, 27 October 1978; Mary Dirks to—, 25 April 1977; Malcolm Cowley to JC, 30 March 1977; JC to Malcolm Cowley, 4 April 1977; JC, “The Hostess of Yaddo,” N
EW
Y
ORK
T
IMES
B
OOK
R
EVIEW
, 8 May 1977, pp. 3, 34; Stephen Sandy to SD, 22 September 1984; interview Max Zimmer, 27 June 1984.

B
ULGARIA:
Interview Robert Penn Warren and Eleanor Clark, 10 July 1984; JC to Max Zimmer, spring 1977; interview Raphael Rudnik, 18 January 1985; twelve U.S. Department of State telegrams, January–June 1977; JC to Laurens Schwartz, 26 June 1977; Gore Vidal to SD, 16 October 1984; interview Dennis Coates, 28 May 1984.

W
AUWINET
, Y
ADDO
, Z
IMMER
, P
HILLIPS
, R
OREM
, H
OLMES:
Interview Raphael Rudnik, 18 January 1985; interview Grace Schulman, 16 September 1984; JC to Steve Phillips, fall 1977 and 1 November 1977; interview Steve Phillips, 24 July 1984; interview Ned Rorem, 20 September 1984; interview James Holmes, 20 October 1984.

A
RCHITECTURE
, A
GENTLESS:
JC, “The Second Most Exalted of the Arts,” J
OURNAL OF
A
RCHITECTURAL
E
DUCATION
, November 1977; David Clarke to SD, 1 February 1984; JC to Candida Donadio, 17 February 1977 and 27 November 1977; X. J. Kennedy to JC, 16 July 1978; JC to X. J. Kennedy, 23 July 1978; X. J. Kennedy to SD, 16 October 1985.

A
WARDS, APPEARANCES
, R
USSIA AGAIN:
JC to Max Zimmer, fall 1977; JC to John Leggett, 17 September 1977 (two letters); James Valhouli to SD, 27 February 1985; interview Grace Schulman, 16 September 1984; JC to Laurens Schwartz, 13 December 1977; JC to T. Coraghessan Boyle, 14 February 1978; JC on Dick Cavett show, 21 March 1978.

Y
ADDO
, A
CADEMY, COMPETITIVENESS:
Interview Hayden Carruth, 10 October 1985; JC to MC, winter 1978; Albin Krebs, “Notes on People,” N
EW
Y
ORK
T
IMES
, 1 January 1977, p. 12; JC to Margaret Mills, 11 May 1977; Eileen Simpson, P
OETS IN
T
HEIR
Y
OUTH
(New York, 1982), p. 149; interview Robert Gottlieb, 27 June 1984.

B
ELLOW
, U
PDIKE:
Interview MC, 12 July 1984; JC, typescript 21; “Writers' Writers,” N
EW
Y
ORK
T
IMES
B
OOK
R
EVIEW
, 4 December 1977; Saul Bellow, “On John Cheever,” p. 38; interview Saul Bellow, 10 July 1984; interview Bev Chaney, Jr., 26 June 1984; JC to John Updike, 1977 and 11 July 1979; tape recording, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt interview with JC, February 1969; interview Tom Glazer, 27 October 1983.

H
ARVARD
, B
ULGARIA
, S
USAN
'
S NOVEL:
Robin Dougherty to SD, 23 April 1986; Joseph Barbato, “Cheever: Stories of Dreams Gone Awry,” D
ETROIT
N
EWS
, 28 November 1978; interview Ben Cheever, 19 October 1984; JC to T. Coraghessan Boyle, 21 October 1978; Callaway, interview with JC, 15 October 1981; Susan Cheever, “My Father's Life,” E
SQUIRE
, June 1984, p. 179; JC, “My Daughter, The Novelist,” N
EW
Y
ORK
, 7 April 1980, p. 53.

S
TORIES
, REVIEWS:
Interview Robert Gottlieb, 27 June 1984; MC to Malcolm Cowley, 2 October 1982; Anne Tyler, “Books Considered,” N
EW
R
EPUBLIC
, 4 November 1978, pp. 45–47; John Leonard, “Books of the Times,” N
EW
Y
ORK
T
IMES
, 7 November 1978, p. 43; Stephen Becker, “John Cheever's Short Glories,” C
HICAGO
S
UN
-T
IMES
, November 1978; interview Charles Newman, 23 July 1984.

G
OLD
M
EDAL CONTROVERSY:
Interview William Maxwell, 9 April 1985; William Maxwell to SD, 10 April 1985: another version of the “Telephone Story” appeared in Kornbluth, “Cheever Chronicle,” 21 October 1979, p. 29; Malcolm Cowley to “Members of the Nominating Committee for the Gold Medal in the Short Story,” 5 February 1978; Richard Wilbur to Malcolm Cowley, 20 February 1978; Malcolm Cowley to Richard Wilbur, 25 February 1978; JC to Malcolm Cowley, 1 March 1978.

P
ULITZER
, N
OBEL RUMORS:
Interview Philip Schultz, 27 June 1984; interview Jane Cheever Carr, 27 October 1983; Linda Gilbert, “Marathon Day for Cheever Yields Prize,” O
SSINING
C
ITIZEN
R
EGISTER
, 17 April 1979; Jim Morse, “A Happy Twist to Cheever Chronicle,” B
OSTON
H
ERALD
A
MERICAN
, 18 April 1979; John Irving quoted in Stephen Becker to SD, 26 June 1985; Savage, “The Long and the Short,” p. 30.

C
ELEBRITY AND ITS EFFECTS:
Susan Cheever, H
OME
B
EFORE
D
ARK
, pp. 210–11; JC to Max Zimmer, 6 December 1978; interview Lauren Bacall, 17 January 1985; JC to Robert Gottlieb, 26 January 1979; interview Robert Gottlieb, 27 June 1984; interview MC, 26 June 1984; interview Allan Gurganus, 16 September 1984; JC to Rick Siggelkow, fall 1977; interview Rick Siggelkow, 23 October 1984; interview Eugene and Clayre Thaw, 15 July 1984; Coale, “Portrait,” p. 3; interview Sara Spencer, 10 November 1983; interview Curtis Harnack and Hortense Calisher, 17 September 1984; interview Ben Cheever, 8 November 1983; interview Hayden Carruth, 10 October 1984; interview Iole Masullo, 23 June 1984; Smilgis, “Dark Moments,” pp. 78–79, presents Cheever on horseback in P
EOPLE
magazine: he was capable of kidding himself about this supposed equestrian background—strangers kept asking him “where his horse was,” he wrote Max Zimmer, May 1979; interview Margaret Mills, 19 September 1984; interview Federico Cheever, 10 February 1985.

C
OMMON FOLK
, O
SSINING:
Interview Eugene and Clayre Thaw, 15 July 1984; interview Nellie Shannon, 17 July 1985; JC, “The Ossining Marathon,” 1979–80; interview Burton Benjamin, 19 June 1984; “Author Cheever Loves Ossining Life,” O
SSINING
C
ITIZEN
R
EGISTER
, early 1979; Benidt, “Conversations,” p. 9; Susan Merrill, “The Everyday Ossining Haunts of John Cheever,” M
OUNT
K
ISCO
P
ATENT
T
RADER
, 14 March 1986, pp. 12–13, 34; interview John Bukovsky, 5 July 1984; interview Susan Cheever, 21 September 1983; interview Rick Siggelkow, 23 October 1984; interview Bev Chaney, Jr., 6 June 1984; Herbert Hadad, “Goodbye to a Man of Patience,” O
SSINING
C
ITIZEN
R
EGISTER
, 4 July 1982; interview Roger and Maureen Willson, 29 July 1984.

S
MOKING
, M
AX:
Max Zimmer journal; interviews Max Zimmer 27 June 1984, 25 July 1984, and 19 September 1984.

M
AC
D
OWELL, STAYING AT HOME:
Interview John Leonard, 23 October 1984; interview Hope Lange, 24 October 1984; interview Susan Cheever, 21 September 1983; interview Eugene and Clayre Thaw, 15 July 1984; interviews Max Zimmer, 27 June 1984 and 19 July 1984; interview Bev Chaney, Jr., 6 June 1984; interview Rick Siggelkow, 23 October 1984; interview Robert Penn Warren and Eleanor Clark, 10 July 1984; JC on the Charlie Rose show, Dallas-Fort Worth television, late 1979.

CANCER

P
LEASURES OF FAME:
Interview William H. Luers, 22 August 1985; interview Eugene Kennedy, 23 April 1985; Eugene Kennedy, “America Has Lost a Mountain in John Cheever,” C
HICAGO
T
RIBUNE
, 30 June 1982, Section 3, p. 1; interview Sara Spencer, 10 November 1983.

S
LOWING DOWN, AUDIENCE:
Interview Steve Phillips, 24 July 1984; Susan Cheever, H
OME
B
EFORE
D
ARK
, pp. 226–27; Valhouli, interview with JC, 2 December 1977; Stephen Sandy to SD, 8 October 1984; JC on Dick Cavett show, 21 March 1978; Hunt et al., interview with JC, fall 1979; Gioia et al., interview with JC, 23 January 1976; interview John Crutcher, 22 June 1985; Saul Bellow to JC, 23 November 1976; Callaway, interview with JC, 15 October 1981; JC to Sara Spencer, 2 April 1977; JC to Robert Gottlieb, 20 July 1973 and 16 March 1977.