Three Cheever Drunk Classics
Cheever Writes what he knows - Drinking and Suburban Angst
When last we reposted Cheever stories, he was just moving into the suburbs with all the drinking and isolation, but there was also a story about a super running around a luxury apartment trying to move people in and out without losing his mind. For these three stories, we have two major suburban stories and one about a striver whose life goes from Smithers to Kato Kaelin. Two of the stories were adapted into PBS specials starring Sigourney Weaver and the grandfather from the Gilmore Girls.
“The Children” is a story that could easily get a Marxist interpretation since it’s about a guy who is seeking the American Dream by working directly with wealthy people. Like the hapless protagonist in “The Pot of Gold,” he’s doomed to failure, but unlike that character he’s not ending the story with a maudlin happy ending about a good marriage being more precious than gold. Also, the Marxism is very much undercut by the fact that the protagonist is too real and too flawed to be the character in a “capitalism bad” sermon (and thank G-d since Trump winning and pushing every dumb Libertarian and rightwing dream means that the leftist drive to revive Communism is going to be stronger than ever.)
"The Children" (The Stories of John Cheever)
Victor Mackenzie is a schmuck, a putz, the non-denominational equivalent. Victor MacKenzie is one of the most pathetic John Cheever protagonists. He's also one of the more uncomfortably familiar. The rest of us post guillotine gifs and anti-Musk memes as we suck up to rich people. Victor MacKenzie serves the wealthy without shame, hoping for a day when …
Next up is “The Sorrows of Gin”, a story along the lines of What Maisie Knew by portraying an unraveling drunk household from the the viewpoint of the child who doesn’t realize that everyone in her household from cook to maid to parents are complete drunks. Even the servant giving a teetotaler sermon turns up blotto and gets fired for it. By the middle of the story, the kid is pouring out the gin but that only makes her parents think that their staff is full of drunks who just help themselves.
"The Sorrows of Gin" (The Stories of John Cheever)
John Cheever struggled with alcoholism most of his life, yet no one glorifies his drinking. He wasn't a witty drunk like Truman Capote or an adventurous drunk like Hemingway or Kerouac. He didn't die young. He ultimately stopped drinking. Most importantly, he never romanticized addiction. His drunks don't run with the bulls or haunt jazz clubs. Alcoholi…
Finally, we have one of Cheever’s hardcore classics, a story that’s been adapted several times and beats Salinger’s opening sentence from The Catcher in the Rye by about 60 words. I know the average reader doesn’t necessarily care about technicalities of writing (then again is the average reader still subscribed to my literary substack) but I love just how much that sentence feels like it can conclude at any moment but just keeps going. It perfectly depicts the end of a party where the hour is late but no one really wants to go home.
"O Youth and Beauty" (The Stories of John Cheever)
By the time Cheever wrote this story, he was fully immersed in the suburbs. Say goodbye to the well-crafted New York stories. Suburban Cheever is messy and chaotic. Even though the plot is fairly straightforward and the characters familiar, Cheever's talents are on full display. The Cliff Notes summation (aging athlete tries to relive glory days and die…
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Here’s a PBS adaption of 'O Youth and Beauty’. Warning, the sound quality sucks. Also 45 minutes seems too long.
I always listen to your Cheever posts and I'm glad of them. I'm glad someone's writing about him on Substack. The way you spell "G-d" messes up the voiceover though and it can get confusing. Is it a religious choice?