A sympathetic and illuminating account of the stories of John Cheever, and the intersecting life and work of the legendary writer John Cheever, as told by his eldest daughter.
That extraordinary book, The Stories of John Cheever, published in 1978, brought together some of the finest American short stories ever written. Cheever's collection was heralded with the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and it would go on not only to sell millions of copies but also to define the American short story and shape a generation of writers. The chronicles of modern life both emerged from a distinctly American culture and also created it—inspiring everything from Mad Men to a Raymond Carver sequel, from rock songs to a Seinfeld episode.
In that same home where the Chekhov of suburbia refined his style lived Susan Cheever, the writer's eldest daughter, who read what he read, heard what he heard, and watched her father type on the cheap yellow paper he favored. A daughter much like Susan appears in many of Cheever's stories and a family much like theirs is at the center of them. After his death in 1982, Susan looks back on her father's work and seeks to understand the connections between art and life. How did a bit of local gossip, a slice of Greek myth, and a new translation of Madame Bovary somehow become a brilliant gem like “The Country Husband” or “The Swimmer”? When All the Men Wore Hats is that exploration. Susan Cheever is the author of many books on American history, the most recent of which is Drinking in America: Our Secret History, published in 2015. She is also the author of numerous novels; My Name Is Bill: Bill Wilson—His Life and the Creation of Alcoholics Anonymous, a biography of the Alcoholics Anonymous cofounder Bill Wilson; and Home Before Dark, a memoir about her father, John Cheever. She teaches at Bennington College and the New School in their MFA programs.
