John Cheever, best known for his short stories dealing with upper-middle-class suburban life, was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1912. Cheever published his first short story at the age of 17, and in 1979, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his collected edition of short stories, titled Stories of John Cheever. Cheever also wrote screenplays, and five novels, including The Wapshot Chronicle, which won the National Book Award in 1957. Cheever died in 1982, at the age of 70.
Blake Bailey is the editor of a two-volume edition of Cheever’s work, published in 2009 by The Library of America. His last book,A Tragic Honesty,was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He received a Guggenheim fellowship in 2005, and his articles and reviews have appeared inSlate,The New York Times,theNew York Observer,and elsewhere. He lives in Virginia with his wife and daughter.