John Cheever
Northeastern University
Studies in American Fiction: Volume 34 Number 2 (Autumn 2006) October 01, 2006 Studies in American Fiction
John Cheever's Shady Hill, or: how I learned to stop worrying and love the suburbs
Keith Wilhite
University of Iowa
Recommended Citation
Wilhite, Keith. "John Cheever's Shady Hill, or: how I learned to stop worrying and love the suburbs." Studies in American Fiction 34.2 (2006): 215-240. http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d10016661
This work is available open access, hosted by Northeastern University.
Studies in American Fiction is a journal of articles and reviews on the prose fiction of the United States. Founded by James Nagel and later edited by Mary Loeffelholz, SAF was published by the Department of English, Northeastern University, from 1973 through 2008. Studies in American Fiction is indexed in the MLA Bibliography and the American Humanities Index.
Volume 34
Studies in American Fiction Autumn 2006
Number 2
Keith Wilhite, John Cheever’s Shady Hill, Or: How I Learned to Stop
Worrying and Love the Suburbs
Copyright © 2006 Northeastern University
ISSN 0091-8083
JOHN CHEEVER’S SHADY HILL, OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE SUBURBS
Keith Wilhite
The University of Iowa There’s been too much criticism of the middle-class way of life. Life can be as good and rich there as anyplace else. I am not out to be a social critic, however, nor a defender of suburbia. It goes without saying that the people in my stories and the things that happen to them could take place anywhere. —John Cheever, Saturday Review (1958)
First published in the July 18, 1964, issue of The New Yorker, “The Swimmer” remains John Cheever’s most distinctive short story. Neddy Merrill’s famous journey across the swimming pools of affluent suburban homes wends through Sunday afternoon parties where caterers serve the gin ice-cold and everyone confesses they “drank too much” last night.1 Merrill embarks on his
Studies in American Fiction: Volume 34 Number 2 (Autumn 2006) October 01, 2006 Studies in American Fiction
John Cheever's Shady Hill, or: how I learned to stop worrying and love the suburbs
Keith Wilhite
University of Iowa
Recommended Citation
Wilhite, Keith. "John Cheever's Shady Hill, or: how I learned to stop worrying and love the suburbs." Studies in American Fiction 34.2 (2006): 215-240. http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d10016661
This work is available open access, hosted by Northeastern University.
Studies in American Fiction is a journal of articles and reviews on the prose fiction of the United States. Founded by James Nagel and later edited by Mary Loeffelholz, SAF was published by the Department of English, Northeastern University, from 1973 through 2008. Studies in American Fiction is indexed in the MLA Bibliography and the American Humanities Index.
Volume 34
Studies in American Fiction Autumn 2006
Number 2
Keith Wilhite, John Cheever’s Shady Hill, Or: How I Learned to Stop
Worrying and Love the Suburbs
Copyright © 2006 Northeastern University
ISSN 0091-8083
JOHN CHEEVER’S SHADY HILL, OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE SUBURBS
Keith Wilhite
The University of Iowa There’s been too much criticism of the middle-class way of life. Life can be as good and rich there as anyplace else. I am not out to be a social critic, however, nor a defender of suburbia. It goes without saying that the people in my stories and the things that happen to them could take place anywhere. —John Cheever, Saturday Review (1958)
First published in the July 18, 1964, issue of The New Yorker, “The Swimmer” remains John Cheever’s most distinctive short story. Neddy Merrill’s famous journey across the swimming pools of affluent suburban homes wends through Sunday afternoon parties where caterers serve the gin ice-cold and everyone confesses they “drank too much” last night.1 Merrill embarks on his