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class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM ByleLk-gEnFiw iUEiRd ggMZaT cXqSTL eErqIx byle__name-lk button" href="/ntributors/john-updike">John Updike</a></span></span></p></div><time data-ttid="ContentHearPublishDate" dateTime="2009-03-01T23:00:00-05:00" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ContentHearPublishDate-eIBicG iUEiRd kYZrFA kEBrdf">March 1, 2009</time></div></div></div></div><div class="LightboxWrapper-dxsWBV hhylRt"><div class="ContentHearLeadAsset-hGbumP iWPCcH lead-asset ContentHearLeadAssetWrapper-hfXHEc fTrSlG lead-asset--width-smallle" data-ttid="ContentHearLeadAsset"><figure class="ContentHearLeadAssetContent-kOfYSG dRGWbI"><div class="ContentHearLeadAssetContentMedia-bLEIpi jjhWdS lead-asset__ntent__photo"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset ContentHearRponsiveAsset-bREgIb khLUzS"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz fmXpeK"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO KhjZz ContentHearRponsiveAsset-bREgIb khLUzS rponsive-image rponsive-image--expandable"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w, 1920w, 2240w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Cheever felt his own existence as a kd of mistake a s." class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></div></div></span><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE iTuhkZ ptn ContentHearLeadAssetCaptn-hPWmSN kuCzGS"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnText-bHjzlu iUEiRd hWyo iXWezO ptn__text">Cheever felt his own existence as a kd of mistake, a s.</span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd iicloT jbIJNS ptn__cred">Photograph by Nancy Crampton</span></div></div></figure><div data-ttid="ContentHearLeadRailAnchor" class="ContentHearLeadRailAnchor-jYVcDc djtEof"></div></div></div></div></hear></div><div data-attribute-verso-pattern="article-body" class="ArticlePageContentBackGround-cNiFNN kbAoLA article-body__ntent"><div class="ActnBarWrapperContent-lasBkU cAHp"><div class="ActnBarWrapperComponent-cjwxLS bEeSLb"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="ActnBarWrapper-dhxmQh kNjTbQ viewport-monor-anchor"><button id="bookmark" aria-label="Save this story" class="ActnBarButton-dyFOZU hQrwCF bookmark large-screen"><span class="ActnBarSendaryButtonPrimaryIn-isbvyN cAwccV bookmark-button-in"><svg class="in in-bookmark" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="><tle>Save this story</tle><path class="in-bookmark-fill" d="M20 23.9508L12.5 19.7312L5 23.9508V2.95081H14V3.93211H6V22.1845L12.5 18.5536L19 22.1845V8.83866H20V23.9508Z"></path><path class="in-bookmark-fill" d="M23 3H20V0H19V3H16V4H19V7H20V4H23V3Z"></path></svg></span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ActnBarButtonText-bYXYuh iUEiRd bkefvo gkccfO">Save this story</span></button></div><div 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grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa bDyAMU body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg">On the one hand, Blake Bailey’s bgraphy “Cheever: A Life” (Knopf; $35) is a triumph of thorough rearch and unblkered appraisal—a seven-hundred-and-seventy-page labor of, if not love, fahful adherence. John Cheever, the thor of five novels and of many—a hundred and twenty-one—of the most brilliant and memorable short stori this magaze has ever prted, died 1982, at the age of seventy, and the years sce an unually full and ank wealth of bgraphil material has accumulated: a memoiristic bgraphy, “Home Before Dark” (1984), by his dghter, San; a llectn of letters, eded and annotated by his son Benjam (1988); a four-hundred-page bgraphy by Stt Donaldson (1988); and, an embarrassment of rich and a <em>richse</em> of embarrassment, the forty-three hundred pag, mostly typed sgle-space, of Cheever’s private journals, stored at Harvard’s Houghton Library and med, by Robert Gottlieb, for six excerpts published <em>The New Yorker</em> between Augt of 1990 and Augt of 1991. Bailey timat himself to be one of possibly ten persons to have read through the journals, which he lls “a monument of tragiic solipsism.” His vtigatns have been tirels: om the murky tails of Cheever’s dubably Yankee anctry and his reer at Thayer Amy right through to the nfintial lab reports on his termal ncer, Bailey distills facts om the imprsnistic versn of realy that Cheever spun around himself. Of a certa Dr. Schulman, whose divulgenc to his patient may have been ls than ndid, Bailey rms a footnote, “I’d very much like to hear Schulman’s si of the story, but he died several years ago a head-on llisn,” and of an aspirg wrer assured by Cheever that he should subm his novel to a New York publisher “and they’ll publish right away,” we learn parenthis “ ‘I never got published,’ the thor reported thirty years later.”</p><p class="paywall">On the other hand, all this bgrapher’s zeal mak a heavy, dispirg read, to the pot that even I, a rear often enraptured by Cheever’s prose and an acquatance who generally enjoyed his lively pany, wanted the narrative, pursued methodil chapters that tick past year after year, to hurry through the menacg miasma of a life which, for all the sparkle of s creative moments, brought so ltle happs to s posssor and to those around him. The bgraphy’s valedictory pag are rather stunngly anticlimactic. Though “The Wapshot Chronicle” and “Falner” appear on bt-novels-of-the-century lists, “neher novel (nor any of Cheever’s others) is read much anymore.” “Amics tend to throw up their hands: Cheever is hardly tght at all the classroom, where reputatns are perpetuated.” In Ossg, New York, where he lived for s as the town’s most proment cizen, a move to name a short street after him was turned down at a town meetg, and only the ma readg room of the public library honors his memory. The joy of the physil world, so often extolled his fictn, and the triumph of his rise om an impoverished young immigrant to New York Cy to star lerary stat afford him, seems, far om enough fort. Max Zimmer, the chief of the male alyt and servors brought to Cheever’s life by his belated homosexual acknowledgment and by his gradually creasg bily, said at the time, “If there’s someone who never loved himself, was John.” Twenty-five years later, Max, married and wh a fay, and havg turned his lerary ambns to a livelihood as a technil wrer, summed up his former mentor:</p><blockquote class="BlockquoteEmbedWrapper-sc-SdiGL jPeLne paywall blockquote-embed"><div class="BlockquoteEmbedContent-RbGs gmbtPx blockquote-embed__ntent"><p>He was extraordarily blsed by anyone’s standards . . . but he liked to say that all he had life was an old dog. There was his spair. And then there was his abily to prehend the spair and self-negatn he flicted on others.</p></div></blockquote><p class="paywall">Gottlieb, who as head of Knopf published two bt-sellers (“The Stori of John Cheever,” “Falner”) that at last gave Cheever the fancial ease that had always elud him, said, of his edorial selectn om the journals, “There were . . . those who thought, ‘Why are you dog this stuff? I don’t want to read one more <em>word</em> about this dopey alholic fag.’ ”</p><p class="paywall">The basic psychoanalysis of John Cheever has been amply livered: the unwanted late child, threatened by his father’s mand that the pregnancy be aborted; the smaller, sensive brother of a larger, apparently succsful brother; the helpls wns of his fay’s scent om prospery to a poverty of which his mother’s gift shop, downtown Qucy, was a huiatg symbol; the homosexual yearngs supprsed favor of mock-aristocratic rpectabily and an ialized domtic life; the fearfully p drkg, bred of shyns and secury; and the eventual nick-of-time sobriety, wh s attendant regnn of his homosexualy. Reprsn and exprsn: tw of plitn and disharmony wh others. Only dogs, ually old and feeble, didn’t let him down.</p><p class="paywall">Bailey’s massive acuntg did troduce, to me, some new paths of medatn upon Cheever’s paradoxil character. In the mid-neteen-thirti, when he was sellg a story now and then to var magaz and, as a protégé of Yaddo’s Elizabeth Am, nng a lnch on Lake Gee, he had an affair wh Lila Reegier, the wife of a iend. “[I] always hoped that somethg, the love of a betiful woman, would cure my ailments. I thought that Lila would lead me away om my jumpy past,” he wrote his journal 1967. She, many years later, remembered him as “such a nice person, a basilly cent person, wh somethg him that kept him om beg pletely cent.” What was this somethg? What were his “ailments”? None of are pletely cent, but for s he brought to social terurse the impatience of an rrigible alholic, his most attentn focsed on the next drk. He uld be whimsilly grac to visg strangers, but also shockgly ; a iend om the Iowa Wrers’ Workshop relled how Cheever got dnk before a schled meetg wh some lol Christian Scientists—“This was a big event for the people, and he jt treated them like dirt.” As a parent, he uld be lovg and pannable but was also sharply sarstic and, what he nfid to his children, mercils. Wh the two olst, San and Benjam, he ma no secret of his disappotments. San, who rembled him her pulsns, wild streak, and telligence, was overweight spe of both parents’ relentls naggg; she told Bailey, “In many ways I was a tremendo disappotment to them, I’m <em>proud</em> to say, and hope I’ve ntued to be, sce what they wanted me to be is pretty empty.” Ben, when he me to read his father’s nfsnal journals, was dismayed by how ltle he and his siblgs figured them; he unrwent, durg his first marriage, a perd of termed trangement. Feri, the youngt child and the only one not a wrer (he beme a law profsor), attempted to be his father’s retaker the worst days of Cheever’s alholic cle, and tak the most level and dispassnate view of the fabulist as sentially cluels the real world: “He was always at sea. He didn’t unrstand how the world worked. He was forever beg cheated by trasmen. . . . He had no profsn. He’d spent his entire reer as a wrer.” Feri, known the fay as Fred, sisted, “No one, absolutely no one, shared his life wh him. There was no one om whom he uld get hont advice.”</p><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kKwZhx rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="RponsiveCartoonWrapper-iTMMjI eXTYsS rponsive-rtoon AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset viewport-monor-anchor"><a class="external-lk rponsive-rtoon__image-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa RponsiveCartoonImage-hzNqyc ikeCcH rponsive-rtoon__image rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="“Yeah yeah maybe s cyclil but I dont feel any better.”" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></a><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE gdZTpI ptn RponsiveCartoonCaptn-dokfdF hJgaLQ rponsive-rtoon__ptn"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnText-bHjzlu iUEiRd hWyo bsWloa ptn__text">“Yeah, yeah, maybe ’s cyclil, but I don’t feel any better.”</span></div><div class="RponsiveCartoonCTA-eiqqMB iDCQRs"><div class="RponsiveCartoonCTAWrapper-CYIqa iTbFtf"><div class="RponsiveCartoonLkButtonWrapper-hqDAJK eSEhbj"><button aria-label="Copy lk to rtoon" class="BaseButton-bLlsy ButtonWrapper-xCepQ bqVKKv YsOBB button button--primary-pair RponsiveCartoonInButton-hBCBMq lpsjql" data-event-click="{"element":"Button"}" data-ttid="Button" type="button"><span class="ButtonLabel-cjAuJN bBWXSg button__label">Copy lk to rtoon</span><div class="ButtonInWrapper-gFdzAL bPDyTT button__in-ntaer"><svg class="in in-pylk" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="><tle>Copy lk to rtoon</tle><g clip-path="url(#clip0_3732_178637)"><path 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button--primary-pair RponsiveCartoonInButton-hBCBMq lpsjql" data-event-click="{"element":"Button"}" data-ttid="Button" type="button"><span class="ButtonLabel-cjAuJN bBWXSg button__label">Shop</span><div class="ButtonInWrapper-gFdzAL bPDyTT button__in-ntaer"><svg class="in in-rt" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="><tle>Shop</tle><g clip-path="url(#clip0_3732_178638)"><path fill-le="evenodd" clip-le="evenodd" d="M4 3H2V4H4.23828L6.99617 15.2631C7.11483 15.6982 7.50998 16 7.96094 16H18.0365C18.4875 16 18.8826 15.6982 19.0013 15.2631L20.9648 7.26312C21.1383 6.62698 20.6594 6 20 6H10V7H20L18.0365 15H7.96094L5.03652 3H4.58055H4ZM10.0365 19C10.0365 19.5523 9.58881 20 9.03652 20C8.48424 20 8.03652 19.5523 8.03652 19C8.03652 18.4477 8.48424 18 9.03652 18C9.58881 18 10.0365 18.4477 10.0365 19ZM11.0365 19C11.0365 20.1046 10.1411 21 9.03652 21C7.93195 21 7.03652 20.1046 7.03652 19C7.03652 17.8954 7.93195 17 9.03652 17C10.1411 17 11.0365 17.8954 11.0365 19ZM18.0365 19C18.0365 19.5523 17.5888 20 17.0365 20C16.4842 20 16.0365 19.5523 16.0365 19C16.0365 18.4477 16.4842 18 17.0365 18C17.5888 18 18.0365 18.4477 18.0365 19ZM19.0365 19C19.0365 20.1046 18.1411 21 17.0365 21C15.932 21 15.0365 20.1046 15.0365 19C15.0365 17.8954 15.932 17 17.0365 17C18.1411 17 19.0365 17.8954 19.0365 19Z" fill="black"></path></g><fs><clipPath id="clip0_3732_178638"><rect width="24" height="24" fill="whe"></rect></clipPath><clipPath id="clip1_3732_178638"><rect width="24" height="24" fill="whe"></rect></clipPath></fs></svg></div></button></div></div></div></span></div></figure><p class="paywall">Certaly Cheever’s volumo harpg, his journals, on the sexual non-rponsivens of his wife, Mary, is obte and ls than cent perceivg no lk between Mary’s olns and his daily dnkenns. Her attempts to get herself a separate life, through poetry and teachg and new associatns, were transformed, one of the last of his stori that uld be lled masterly, “The Ocean,” to the high-voiced (Mary’s distct tra) heroe’s attempt to poison her lovg hband, and, a later story published <em>Esquire</em>, “The Fourth Alarm,” to a wife’s enthiastic enlistment the st of an all-nu, “Oh, Calcutta!”-like revue. Gleeful nudy was really his own thg; even while stg off his own sexual fetters, he remaed prim and censor toward others. There was, between his shadowy “proclivi” and his lumo work, an almost anic disnnect. We learn, Bailey’s bgraphy, that Cheever, while the Army 1942, sred too low on the I.Q. tt that would have qualified him for Officer Candidate School. He asked Mary to send him a book “on easy ways to get a high IQ,” so he uld raise himself “out of the moron class,” but when he took the tt a year later he still fell short of the requise sre of 110. He never rose above the rank of technil sergeant. His lack of formal tn and of mathematics general was surely a e, but, still, startl that this imprsively agile wrer, wh a prodig memory that allowed him to rece a fished story verbatim, sred so averagely. Nor did he improve wh age and celebry; Smhers, the New York Cy sanatorium where he fally dried out, 1975, had him upon admtance take “the abbreviated Shipley IQ tt (srg, as ever, the high-average range).” A pre-Smhers <em class="small">CAT</em> sn had disclosed “severe atrophy of the bra,” which is ced as the possible e of his termtent spells of mil hallucatn and “otherns.” “I am a bell jar or worse sce I seem to rpond to nothg that I see,” he wrote. “I remember beg as prsed Rome. A cigarette butt a cup, a formatn of dt unr a table seemed to reprent the utter futily of stayg alive.”</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">John once said to me that a psychiatrist he was then seeg told him he was fascated by crimaly. He volunteered 1971 to teach a urse on the short story to mat at Sg Sg. He beiend some of the mat, pecially a “pale, emaciated whe man” and “ser loser” (son Fred’s term) named Donald Lang, whom Cheever ntued to associate wh after his release. It was Lang who, hostilely, wonred “where a ltle sh like you gets the balls to e here”: even at the time of the prisoner rts at Atti, Cheever remaed blhe, and later told an terviewer, “If the ns and I were led up agast a guard, I was all wh the ns.” The sister power of many of his early stori entails an intifitn wh crimaly. In “Goodbye, My Brother,” a story that ends wh the idyllic visn of two women emergg om the sea, “naked, unshy, betiful, and full of grace,” the protagonist clubs his brother unnsc wh a saltwater-soaked root. In “The Enormo Rad,” the wife of a Sutton Place uple troduced as “the kd of people who seem to strike that satisfactory average of e, enavor, and rpectabily that is reached by the statistil reports llege alumni bullets” turns out, her hband’s fur accatns, to be guilty of stealg her sister’s herance and gog off to have an abortn as olly as if she were gog to Nass. The central character of “Torch Song” feeds her morbid soul on a seri of ailg, abive lovers; the wronged secretary “The Five-Forty-Eight” boards a muter tra wh her former employer and pulls a gun on him, forcg him, at his statn, to kneel down and put his face the dirt; the hero of “The Hoebreaker of Shady Hill” enters an affluent neighbor’s hoe and steals his fat wallet. All the pths open up nventnal social scenery, sketched wh a fond and lively eye for realistic tail.</p><div class="Contaer-bkChBi byNLHx"></div><p class="paywall">Like Kafka and Kierkegaard, Cheever felt his own existence as a kd of mistake, a s. His homosexualy, furtively explored his boyhood but then supprsed an apparently perfect marriage to bright, pretty Mary Wternz (she was even the perfect size for him), seemed crimal; his last years, he marvelled at the souciance wh which younger men, among them Allan Gurgan, accepted their own. Cheever’s father, Frerick, a csty Yankee shoe salman, was—like his namake, John’s olr brother—a vigoro participant virile sports; he feared that wh John he had “sired a u.” As an adult, John “flung himself to icy pools and skated wh a mascule swagger,” and cultivated the reputatn of a womanizer. In turn, he worried at Ben wh spicns that the boy had homosexual tennci. Yet one of the least herent of Cheever’s late stori, “The Leav, the Ln-Fish, and the Bear” (published <em>Esquire</em> 1974, and a limed edn, by Sylvter & Orphanos, 1980), he most nakedly sought to nvce himself, and the rear, that male homosexualy is nocent, of a piece wh his beloved world of light and air and female bety. Two men, Estabrook and Stark, are brought together a motel room a snowstorm, drk four whiskeys each, and make love: “They were both experienced but they reverted passnately to the sexual horseplay of adolcence.” In the morng,</p><div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--article-mid-ntent" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--article-mid-ntent nsumer-marketg-un__slot---ntent"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><blockquote class="BlockquoteEmbedWrapper-sc-SdiGL jPeLne paywall blockquote-embed"><div class="BlockquoteEmbedContent-RbGs gmbtPx blockquote-embed__ntent"><p>The ungals of two grown, dnken and naked men one another’s arms was manift but Estabrook felt that he looked wonrfully on to some revelatn of how lonely and unnatural man is and how ep and well-ncealed are his nfns. Estabrook knew that he had done that, which by his lights he should not have done but he felt no remorse at all—he felt stead a kd of joy at seeg this much of himself and of another. There were no ncealments at that hour. The men were what they were—bewilred, naked, rnal and ntent—and stead of eeg himself om Stark’s embrace he put both arms around the stranger and drew him closer. . . . Estabrook was astonished to fd that he uld nvce himself he had merely disvered somethg about himself and his kd. When he returned home at the end of the week, his wife looked as lovely as ever—lovelier—and lovely were the landsp he beheld.</p></div></blockquote><p class="paywall">“How lonely and unnatural man is and how ep and well-ncealed are his nfns”—no wonr Cheever’s fictn is slighted amia while Fzgerald’s llegiate romanticism is assigned. Cheever’s characters are adult, full of adult darkns, rptn, and nfn. They are siro, nflicted, alone, adrift. They do not achieve the crystalle stoicism, the fiant willed urage, of Hemgway’s. Cheever was not a stoic; he was for most of his adult life a regular, ed pulsive, munint at Epispal morng Mass. His errant protagonists move, their agile suburban simulacra of paradise, om one island of momentary happs to the imperilled next. Johnny Hake, the hoebreaker of Shady Hill, nfis before revealg his turn to crime, “We have a nice hoe wh a garn and a place outsi for okg meat, and on summer nights, stg there wh the kids and lookg to the ont of Christa’s drs as she bends over to salt the steaks, or jt gazg at the lights heaven, I am as thrilled as I am thrilled by more hardy and dangero pursus, and I gus this is what is meant by the pa and sweetns of life.” That is about as good as gets Cheeverland, and such glimmers of grace and well-beg are all but smothered Blake Bailey’s pastakg chronology of a tormented man’s daily stggle wh himself. ♦</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><asi class="PersistentAsiWrapper-VGrR daRVRt persistent-asi" style="posn:absolute;top:to;height:to" data-ttid="PersistentAsiWrapper"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box ArticlePageSplAdRail-OyjwD jikppc"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="ArticlePageSplAdRailContent-jsltpq iZDmmY spl-ad-rail-ntent"><div class="ArticlePageSplAdRailTop-jUrrVY jzzFg"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="jta2zk"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div><div class="ArticlePageSplAdRailMiddle-tiRvu hiZeZX spl-ad-rail-middle"></div><div class="ArticlePageSplAdRailBottom-dBKMGQ jmCMsn spl-ad-rail-bottom"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="1i5ta9"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></asi></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 PaywallInleBarrierWhWrapperGrid-fyrGfS kLQIUk grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__le-barrier article__body"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"><asi class="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper-iBnuqk lfXXa-D" data-ttid="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper"><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--paywall-le-barrier" role="prentatn" aria-live="pole" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--paywall-le-barrier"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></asi></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ContentWrapperGrid-fvkmBv brYtrA grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__ntaer"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"></div></div></div></div></div></div></article><div class="ContentFooterWrapper-jVNdRG dTJkpP ArticlePageContentFooterGrid-ccsXYy eMZRHU article-body__footer"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><footer class="ContentFooterMagazeDisclaimer-gzKAqo iZIuUU" data-ttid="MagazeDisclaimerWrapper">Published the prt edn of the <a href="/magaze/2009/03/09" data-reactroot="">March 9, 2009</a>, issue.</footer></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="ContributorsWrapper-eNpWFu GWFsc ntributors" data-ttid="Contributors"><div class="ContributorBWrapper-bnVHbt gMon"><div class="ContributorBContent-ubQdr jZTSSi"><div class="ContributorBHear-ledood XOIEx"></div><div class="ContributorBB-fBolsO giFhKz"><a href="/ntributors/john-updike">John Updike</a> ntributed fictn, poetry, says, and cricism to The New Yorker for a half century. He died 2009.</div><div class="ContributorBFooter-brqDlv ezUmSv"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div data-ttid="TagCloudWrapper" class="TagCloudWrapper-gGgndx ctyZyK ContentFooterTagCloud-krQmRG ZLGh"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudSectnHear-cOforY iUEiRd bPyAoD kQQRmu">More:</span><a href="/tag/bgraphi" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Bgraphi</span></a><a href="/tag/blake-bailey" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Blake Bailey</span></a><a href="/tag/john-cheever" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">John Cheever</span></a><a href="/tag/knopf" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Knopf</span></a><a href="/tag/novelists" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Novelists</span></a><a href="/tag/robert-gottlieb" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Robert Gottlieb</span></a><a href="/tag/short-stori" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Short Stori</span></a><a href="/tag/wrers" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Wrers</span></a></div></div></div></div><div data-ttid="ContentFooterBottom" class="ContentFooterBottom-jwWZfC kcbyiW"><div class="ContentFooterNewsletterContentWrapper-bmjtna kixtae"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div data-ttid="NewsletterSubscribeFormWrapper" class="NewsletterSubscribeFormWrapper-fCqqkN jKSBhE newsletter-subscribe-form ContentFooterNewsletterForm-hKeYwa liPqcf"><div data-ttid="NewsletterSubscribeFormHedDekWrapper" class="NewsletterSubscribeFormHedDekWrapper-fpMElW eglIBL"><h3 class="NewsletterSubscribeFormDangeroHed-kRwWjt kbxOa-D newsletter-subscribe-form__hed ContentFooterNewsletterForm-hKeYwa liPqcf">Books & Fictn</h3><div class="NewsletterSubscribeFormDek-kXonvc cKOhTM newsletter-subscribe-form__k">Short stori and poems, pl thor terviews, profil, and tal om the world of lerature.</div></div><div data-ttid="NewsletterSubscribeFormInputsWrapper" class="NewsletterSubscribeFormInputsWrapper-keARJE hVWbzr"><form class="form-wh-validatn NewsletterSubscribeFormValidatn-iCYa-Dt dweEln" id="newsletter" name="newsletter" novalidate="" method="POST"><span class="TextFieldWrapper-Pzdqp hNhevp text-field" data-ttid="TextFieldWrapper__email"><label class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TextFieldLabel-klrYvg iUEiRd stdEm fvoOvz text-field__label text-field__label--sgle-le" for="newsletter-text-field-email" data-ttid="TextFieldLabel__email"><div class="TextFieldLabelText-cvvxBl eeDYTb">E-mail addrs</div><div class="TextFieldInputContaer-jcMPhb oFrOs"><put type="email" aria-scribedby="privacy-text" aria-valid="false" id="newsletter-text-field-email" required="" name="email" placeholr="E-mail addrs" class="BaseInput-fAzTdK TextFieldControlInput-eFUxkf eGzzTT lglhcT text-field__ntrol text-field__ntrol--put" data-ttid="TextFieldInput__email"/></div></label><button class="BaseButton-bLlsy ButtonWrapper-xCepQ bqVKKv dwpimO button button--utily TextFieldButton-csBrgY edxbrw" data-event-click="{"element":"Button"}" data-ttid="Button" type="subm"><span class="ButtonLabel-cjAuJN hzwRuG button__label">Sign up</span></button></span><div id="privacy-text" tabx="-1" class="NewsletterSubscribeFormDisclaimer-bTVtiV bsgLJZ"><span><p>By signg up, you agree to our <a href=" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">User Agreement</a> and <a href=" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement</a>. 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class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="The Caphono Miracle of “The Brothers Karamazov”" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd jxOIpm cPtisA summary-em__k">In Dostoyevsky’s fal novel, narrative unfurls at the mad and thentic pace of human emotn.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi cuRXdL summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" 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summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ iIjKeM summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">Briefly Noted</div></a><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Briefly Noted" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd jxOIpm cPtisA summary-em__k">“Fir the Dark,” “A Madman’s Will,” “Elsewhere,” and “Snow Road Statn.”</div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff ewgXAt summary-em summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below-sktop-only summary-em--layout-posn-image-right summary-em--layout-proportns-33-66 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm kdEfwY" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Ann Patchett’s Panmic Novel" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl bcywvc summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN fYiFyD summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Books</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cZPaWG summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ iIjKeM summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">Ann Patchett’s Panmic Novel</div></a><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Ann Patchett’s Panmic Novel" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd jxOIpm cPtisA summary-em__k">In “Tom Lake,” Patchett returns to a faiar subject: the ambivalent terpersonal dynamics of closed groups.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi cuRXdL summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd jslZfG gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Katy Waldman</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff ewgXAt summary-em summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below-sktop-only summary-em--layout-posn-image-right summary-em--layout-proportns-33-66 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm kdEfwY" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-4" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="The Master Fabulist of Amerin Fictn" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl bcywvc summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN fYiFyD summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Books</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cZPaWG summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-4" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ iIjKeM summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">The Master Fabulist of Amerin Fictn</div></a><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-4" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="The Master Fabulist of Amerin Fictn" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd jxOIpm cPtisA summary-em__k">In “Disptns,” a new llectn of stori, Steven Millhser revaliz the small-town tale, evokg the magil, the mundane, and the extravagantly madp.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi cuRXdL summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd jslZfG gnILss 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was john cheever gay

Although Blake Bailey's 770-page bgraphy of John Cheever won't be published until next week, crics nnected to the suburban bard are already wrtlg wh his legacy. The lerary appraisals may be fuzzy but what to very sharp foc is people's endurg disfort wh Cheever's gay life, twenty-seven years after...

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THE 11 GAYT MOMENTS ON "SEFELD"{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}TVBY JIM HALTERMANJUNE 30, 2015/10:58 AMBY JIM HALTERMANJUNE 30, 2015 / 10:58 AM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"THE 11 GAYT MOMENTS ON \"SEFELD\"","DATEPUBLISHED":"2015-06-30T14:58:08.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2015-06-30T14:58:08.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"JIM HALTERMAN","ARTICLESECTN":"TV"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}ON THE SURFACE, SEFELD MAY NOT SEEM LIKE GAY-CENTRIC S LIKE WILL & GRACE, OR EVEN FRIENDS, BUT NOW THAT ALL 180 EPISOS OF THE BELOVED SERI ARE STREAMG ON HULU, WE'VE REALIZED THE SHOW WAS PRETTY QUEER ED (EVEN IF WASN'T ALWAYS POLILLY RRECT).{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}SEFELD HAD A GAY SENSIBILY—EVER NOTICE HOW JERRY, GEE, ELAE AND KRAMER NEVER SEEMED TO MAKE A RELATNSHIP WORK WH A MEMBER OF THE OPPOSE SEX?— AND GARNERED LGHS WHOUT MAKG THE LGBT MUNY THE BUTT OF A {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}CHECK OUT 11 OF SEFELD'S GAYT EPISOS BELOW. {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}1. "THE NOTE"{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN THIS SEASON 3 EPISO, GEE EXPERIENC GAY PANIC WHEN HE GETS A MASSAGE OM A MALE MASSR. "I THK MOVED," HE LATER TELLS THE GANG. GEE ALSO REVEALS HIS FEAR OF BEG TOO CLOSE TO OTHER MEN, LEADG HIM TO BE A "STALL MAN."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}2. "THE TTH"{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}ALSO SEASON 3, GEE BREAKS UP WH A KOOKY ACUNTANT, PATRICE, BUT REALIZ JERRY'S BEG DED AND SHE STILL HAS HIS TAX FORMS.  HEARG PATRICE HAS GONE OFF THE EP END, GEE SAYS, “I’VE DRIVEN WOMEN TO LBIANISM BEFORE BUT NEVER TO A MENTAL STUTN.” (THIS BE A NNG JOKE ON THE SHOW.){BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}3. "THE SUBWAY" {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}THIS CLASSIC EPISO SE ALL FOUR CHARACTERS OFF ON THEIR OWN ADVENTUR ON THE SUBWAY. ON HER WAY TO A SAME-SEX WEDDG, ELAE TALKS TO A FELLOW SUBWAY RIR, WHO MISTAK HER FOR A LBIAN. AFTER THE UNFORTABLE STRANGER WALKS AWAY, ELAE YELLS “I HATE MEN BUT I’M NOT A LBIAN!”{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN ANOTHER SCENE, GEE MENTS, “I ALWAYS GET THE FEELG WHEN LBIANS ARE LOOKG AT ME THEY’RE THKG 'THAT’S WHY I’M NOT A HETEROSEXUAL.'"{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}4. "THE CHEEVER LETTERS"{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}KRAMER’S CIGAR HAD BURNT DOWN A B A PREV SEASON 4 EPISO AND ONE OF THE SURVIVG ARTIFACTS IS A T BOX WH LOVE LETTERS BETWEEN SAN'S FATHER AND CELEBRATED WRER JOHN {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}“DEAR HENRY, LAST NIGHT WH YOU WAS BLISS," ONE MISSIVE READS. "I FEAR MY ASM HAS LEFT ME A CRIPPLE. I DON’T KNOW HOW I SHALL EVER GET BACK TO WORK. I LOVE YOU MADLY, JOHN. PS  LOVED THE B.”{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}SAN’S FATHER BARKS AT THE FAY, “Y! Y, HE WAS THE MOST WONRFUL PERSON I’VE EVER KNOWN AND I LOVED HIM EPLY," BEFORE TURNG TO HIS WIFE AND SAYG, " A WAY YOU ULD NEVER UNRSTAND.”{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}5. "THE OUTG"{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}ONE OF THE SHOW’S BIGGT TCH PHRAS, “NOT THAT THERE’S ANYTHG WRONG WH THAT,” ME OM THIS SEASON 4 EPISO, WHERE JERRY AND GEE ARE MISTAKEN FOR A GAY {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}STEREOTYP LIKE BETTE MIDLER, BROADWAY MILS AND MEN WHO ARE "SGLE, TH AND NEAT" E UP THROUGHOUT THE EPISO. AND GEE FDS HIMSELF AN UNFORTABLE SUATN WATCHG A MALE NURSE GIVG A MALE PATIENT A SPONGE BATH BEHD A CURTA A HOSPAL {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}6. "THE SMELLY CAR"{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}ALSO THE FOURTH SEASON, GEE ACROSS HIS NOW-EX SAN HOLDG HANDS WH ANOTHER WOMAN AT A VIO STORE AND CIS HE WANTS HER BACK. THAT WON'T BE AS HARD AS SOUNDS, AS KRAMER GETS SAN’S NEW GIRLIEND TO FALL FOR {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}GEE EXCLAIMS, “AMAZG! I DRIVE THEM TO LBIANISM, HE BRGS THEM BACK.”{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}7. "THE STALL"{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}WHO DIDN’T HAVE A CSH ON DAN CORTE  THE EARLY 90S? THE HOTTIE GUT-STARRED THE FIFTH SEASON OF SEFELD AS ELAE'S ADVENTURE-SEEKG BOYIEND TONY,   AND 'S NOT LONG BEFORE SHE AND JERRY REALIZE GEE IS DOTG ON HIM A B TOO {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}JERRY: “I THK GEE HAS A NON-SEXUAL CSH ON HIM”{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}ELAE: “I THK HE DO, TOO”{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}JERRY: “I MEAN, EVERY TIME I SEE HIM ’S TONY-THIS AND TONY THAT. GEE IS LIKE A SCHOOL GIRL AROUND HIM.”{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}8. "THE  BEARD"{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN SEASON 6, ELAE ATTEMPTS THE IMPOSSIBLE– TURNG A GAY MAN STRAIGHT. BUT HER SUCCS IS SHORT-LIVED WHEN ROBERT RETURNS TO HIS "TEAM." JERRY EXPLAS THAT MEN WHO HAVE SEX WH MEN HAVE A DISTCT ADVANTAGE OVER WOMEN: THEY HAVE ACCS TO "THE EQUIPMENT" 24 HOURS A DAY AND KNOW HOW TO E BETTER. #{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}9. "THE KISS HELLO"{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}JERRY FEELS UNFORTABLE WH PEOPLE WHO KISS HELLO, BUT HIS ATTEMPTS TO AVOID THEM BACKFIRE THIS SEASON 6 EPISO. TO STOP HIS BCHG ABOUT , KRAMER GRABS JERRY AND PLANTS A FIRM ONE ON HIS LIPS JT AS GEE WALKS {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}NOT THE FIRST MALE KISS A S BUT A FUNNY, UNEXPECTED MOMENT JT THE {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}10. "THE UNRSTUDY"{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN ANOTHER SEASON 6 EPISO, GAY IN BETTE MIDLER GUT STARRED AS HERSELF.   KRAMER IS HEAVEN, CRADLG HER AFTER SHE'S KNOCKED DOWN DURG A SOFTBALL GAME AND SGG ‘WD BENEATH MY WGS” TO NSOLE {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}HE ALSO MAK A MI PASTA STATUE OF THE DIVE MISS M, LLED ‘MARONI MIDLER!’{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}11. "THE WIG MASTER"

* was john cheever gay *

The book nfsed the extent of her father's alholism, and gently noted his bisexualy; the last years of his life, she wrote, he had found love, of a kd, wh a young man she lled me a volume of Cheever's letters, eded by San's brother, Benjam, who wrote his troductn of how difficult had been to disver the extent of his father's homosexualy, and then olly thanked the poser Ned Rorem for revealg that "for my father, asm was always acpanied by a visn of sunshe, or flowers".

And then, I didn't know how much gay activy there'd been…"San lov the book; she thks Bailey's versn of her father is tthful and unflchg, and that ptur him some sential way.

JOHN CHEEVER’S ALHOLIC DEMONS—AND WORLDLY GLAMOURLITERARY LEGENDS“Y, MY FATHER WAS A DIFFICULT, ALHOLIC, CLOSETED GAY MAN WHO WAS SOMETIM MEAN TO HIS FAY. WHAT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN LOST WH TIME IS HIS EXTRAORDARY HUMOR.”SAN CHEEVERUPDATED MAY 18, 2020 11:41AM EDT / PUBLISHED MAR. 03, 2009 1:06AM EST BACHRACH/GETTYMY FATHER DIED ALMOST 30 YEARS AGO, AND I MISS HIM EVERY DAY. HE WAS JT 70, AND HIS FIRST GRANDCHILD, MY DGHTER, WAS ONLY TWO MONTHS OLD. HIS ATH WAS A MEDIL MISTAKE; A DOCTOR WHO OPERATED ON HIS KIDNEY FOUND A MALIGNANCY AND DIDN’T TELL ANYONE, AND SIX MONTHS LATER WHEN MY FATHER ULDN’T WALK, TURNED OUT THE NCER HAD GONE TO HIS BON. READG CHEEVER: A LIFE (KNOPF), BLAKE BAILEY’S MARVELO BGRAPHY OF MY FATHER PUBLISHED THIS MONTH, IS A STRANGE, EXHILARATG AND PAFUL EXPERIENCE. SEEG YOUR OWN STORY SOMEONE ELSE’S BOOK IS ALWAYS DISORIENTG; ’S LIKE SUDNLY NOTICG AT A PARTY THAT SOMEONE ELSE IS WEARG YOUR FAVORE RED DRS AND THAT, WORSE LUCK, SHE LOOKS BETTER THAN YOU DO.Y, MY FATHER WAS A DIFFICULT, ALHOLIC, CLOSETED GAY MAN WHO WAS SOMETIM MEAN TO HIS FAY. WHAT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN LOST WH TIME IS HIS EXTRAORDARY HUMOR. BLAKE TERVIEWED ME MANY TIM OVER THE YEARS DURG WHICH HE WROTE, AND MY BROTHERS, MOTHER, AND I ARE ALL QUOTED OFTEN AND ACCURATELY HIS PAG. WHEN WE SPOKE, I OFTEN HECTORED HIM ABOUT THE NECSY OF SEPARATG MY FATHER’S ART AND MY FATHER’S LIFE. I AM NOT THE LTLE GIRL THE SORROWS OF G; MY FATHER IS NOT THE TROUBLED MAN THE ANGEL OF THE BRIDGE. NO NFLATN, I WOULD SIST, ALTHOUGH ED BOTH STORI AND MANY OTHERS ARE BASED ON THGS THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED.SAN CHEEVER

“Y, my father was a difficult, alholic, closeted gay man who was sometim mean to his fay. What seems to have been lost wh time is his extraordary humor.” * was john cheever gay *

In his journals, this manifts self the form of homophobia. Cheever would often scribe his distaste for gay men, whom he regard as effemate, even obscene. At the Iowa Wrers' Workshop, Cheever met the gay novelist Allan Gurgan.

IS JOHN CHEEVER GAY

" There was a time, Ben tells me, when he began to wonr whether he was, fact, gay, and only actg heterosexual to please his father.

IT’S STILL CHEEVER COUNTRYWH THE ARRIVAL OF A NEW JOHN CHEEVER BGRAPHY, THE MAN’S UNSAVORY SECRETS HAVE BEEN FURTHER DISSECTED. BUT S AFTER HIS ATH HIS WRG STILL F SUBURBAN ENNUI, HNTG THE ICY RIPPL OF FAR OM HEAVEN, REVOLUTNARY ROAD, AND MAD MEN.BY JAM WOLTTMARCH 16, 2009SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEIF A TGE OF MELANCHOLY HNTS THE CKTAIL HOUR, IF A CROQUET MALLET LEFT RELICT ON THE LAWN EVOK A BROKEN MERRIMENT, IF THE BAR R OF A MUTER TRA GIV OFF A STALE WHIFF OF FAILED PROMISE AND BTER ALIMONY, PSE AND PAY HOMAGE TO JOHN CHEEVER. LIGHT A BUG NDLE ON THE PAT HIS HONOR. FOR CHEEVER—NOVELIST, MASTER OF THE SHORT STORY, PROLIFIC DIARIST—IS THE PATRON SAT OF EASTERN SEABOARD PATHOS AND REMPTN, THE EDWARD HOPPER OF SUBURBAN ENNUI, PRERVG MOR EPIPHANI AMBER. DPE HIS PATRICIAN PATA, CHEEVER WAS NO SAT HIS PERSONAL LIFE AND NOT QUE ONE OF NATURE’S NOBLEMEN. THE PUBLITN 1991 OF THE JOURNALS OF JOHN CHEEVER PUT A PERMANENT WRKLE THAT FAçA, PUBLICIZG CHEEVER’S PREVLY CLOAKED BISEXUAL APPET AND POLET PROPENSI, ALONG WH A LSER HOST OF MISERI, VANI, AND MNRGS THAT LEFT AN OILY RIDUE. A GREATER SMIRCH ON CHEEVER’S NAME REGNN WAS FLICTED A YEAR LATER, ON AN EPISO OF SEFELD WHERE GEE COSTANZA (JASON ALEXANR) DISVERED THAT HIS PROSPECTIVE FUTURE FATHER--LAW WAS A FORMER LOVER OF CHEEVER’S, HOARDG A SECRET STASH OF LETTERS OM THE AR MAN. MILLNS OF VIEWERS WHO MAY NEVER HAVE READ A SGLE STORY OF CHEEVER’S NOW HAD HIS INTY BRAND TO THEIR BRAS AS A GAY PUNCH LE.[#IMAGE: /PHOTOS/54CBF65444A199085E8838]|||WANT MORE WOLTT? VIS HIS BLOG ON |||BUT IF SOME OF THE MAHOGANY RICHNS HAS WORN OFF OF CHEEVER’S DIVIDUAL REPUTATN FOLLOWG HIS ATH, 1982, THE FLUENCE OF HIS IMAGATN AND SENSIBILY HAS SWUM EVER EPER TO THE CULTURAL BLOODSTREAM, S UNIQUE FORMULA OF MAGIL ELIXIR AND EMBALMG FLUID WDG S WAY THROUGH EVERYTHG OM ORDARY PEOPLE TO THE ICE STORM TO AMERIN BETY TO FAR OM HEAVEN TO REVOLUTNARY ROAD TO TV’S MAD MEN. NEARLY EVERY STYLIZED RETRO EXAMATN OF THE HIDN TOOTH Y OF THE AMERIN DREAM OW CHEEVER SYMBOLIC ROYALTI (SEE ALSO “RETHKG THE AMERIN DREAM,” BY DAVID KAMP). AS THIS UNTRY EDG TO THE PROSPECT OF LOSG SO MUCH OF WHAT ONCE HAD, A VAST VALUG OF EVERYTHG TOOK FOR GRANTED, THE BTERSWEET PANG OF CHEEVER’S NOSTALGIA AND THE BLEAK APPREHENSN UNRLYG IDLE CHCHAT HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE APROPOS—PERFECT TIMG FOR THE PUBLITN OF BLAKE BAILEY’S CHEEVER: A LIFE (KNOPF), A BGRAPHY OF MONUMENTAL HEFT AND PICKY ASIS THAT CERTIFI CHEEVER’S ENDURG RELEVANCE WHILE SMACKG HIS WRIST WH A NUN’S LER. AFTER ONE OF CHEEVER’S TYPIL LYRIL EFFNS, HIS BGRAPHER CHIS, “PERHAPS, BUT THE FACT REMAED THAT HE WAS IMPOTENT, AND OFTEN DNK BEFORE LUNCH.” EVEN WHEN YOU’RE AD, YOU N’T GET AWAY WH ANYTHG.MY GOD, THE SUBURBS! THEY ENCIRCLED THE CY’S BOUNDARI LIKE ENEMY TERRORY, AND WE THOUGHT OF THEM AS A LOSS OF PRIVACY, A CSPOOL OF NFORMY AND A LIFE OF SCRIBABLE DREARS SOME SPL-LEVEL VILLAGE WHERE THE PLACE-NAME APPEARED THE NEW YORK TIM ONLY WHEN SOME BORED HOEWIFE BLEW OFF HER HEAD WH A SHOTGUN. —JOHN CHEEVER, ESQUIRE, JULY 1960.IN THE HALO’D CIRCL WHERE THE CRAFT OF FICTN IS A VOTNAL LLG, CHEEVER IS HELD UP AS AN EXEMPLAR OF A WRER’S WRER, TENDG TO HIS TY PLOT OF FALLEN PARADISE. FIRST PUBLISHED AT THE AGE OF 18, WH AN ACUNT THE NEW REPUBLIC OF BEG EXPELLED OM THAYER AMY (A PRIVATE SCHOOL), CHEEVER HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE TO LAND UNR THE AEGIS OF *THE NEW YORKER’*S FICTN EDOR WILLIAM MAXWELL, WHOSE SOLICU AND SELF-EFFACEMENT WERE THE STUFF OF VATIN LEGEND. IN 1938, CHEEVER, WHO HAD PUBLISHED A FEW STORI THE MAGAZE UNR KATHARE WHE’S EDORIAL WAND, WAS LATERALED OFF TO MAXWELL. “MAXWELL’S ATTENTIVENS WAS ALL THE MORE FLATTERG—AND HIS EDORIAL ADVICE VALUABLE—BEE HE HIMSELF WAS ALREADY, AT AGE THIRTY, THE THOR OF TWO WELL-REGARD NOVELS, BRIGHT CENTER OF HEAVEN AND THEY CAME LIKE SWALLOWS,” BAILEY WR. “FOR MOST OF HIS REER, THOUGH, HIS OWN REPUTATN WOULD BE ECLIPSED BY THE GREATER FAME OF THE WRERS HE EDED: NABOKOV, SALGER, WELTY, AND (AS MAXWELL PUT ) ‘THREE WONRFUL WRERS ALL NAMED JOHN’—O’HARA, UPDIKE, AND CHEEVER.” UNR MAXWELL’S TUTELAGE, CHEEVER PRODUCED A BASKET OF GOLN EGGS, STORI THAT BY THE LATE 40S—“MIRACULO YEARS FOR CHEEVER”—PLACED HIM NEAR THE TOP TIER OF THE FICTN WRERS AT THE NEW YORKER, AN EXCLIVE ATERNY THAT CLUD O’HARA, NABOKOV, SALGER, AND IRW SHAW. BUT LERARY CHET DIDN’T STOCK THE PANTRY OR VER THE DRY CLEANG, PECIALLY DURG DRY SPELLS. “IN HIS JOURNAL CHEEVER WROTE, ‘WE ARE AS POOR AS WE EVER HAVE BEEN. THE RENT IS NOT PAID, WE HAVE VERY LTLE TO EAT.… WE HAVE MANY BILLS.’ DETERMED TO WRE ‘A STORY A WEEK,’ HE WAS REJECTED FOUR TIM A ROW BY THE NEW YORKER, WHICH MEANT HE WOULDN’T BE RECEIVG A YEARLY BON EHER. FACED WH DIRE POVERTY, AND FORCED TO WRG ‘LIFELS AND TTABLE’ FICTN, CHEEVER CHID HIMSELF FOR ENTERTAG AN ‘UNREASONABLE’ GREE OF PETULANCE.”A PETULANCE FLAMED TO A RASH OF ENVY BY THE THUMPG SUCCS OF HIS IEND IRW SHAW’S WORLD WAR II EPIC, THE YOUNG LNS. IT WAS LIKE BEG SLAPPED ACROSS THE FACE WH A FANCY WALLET LISTENG TO SHAW, WHO WAS RAKG SCREENPLAY MONEY ON THE SI AS THE ROYALTI ROLLED , FLNTG HIS JACKPOT STAT AS POSTWAR FICTN’S NEWT GOLN BOY. “FOR CHEEVER, WAS EXQUISE AGONY TO HEAR SHAW PLA, BLHELY OVER LUNCH, ABOUT HOW MUCH MONEY HE’D HAVE TO MAKE THIS YEAR ORR TO PAY TAX ON HIS EARNGS OM LAST YEAR.” THIS AS CHEEVER PREPARED TO ATTEND *THE NEW YORKER’*S 25TH-ANNIVERSARY GALA A SENDHAND TUXEDO. CHEEVER WOULD LATER FEEL OVERSHADOWED AND OUTMANVERED AT THE NEW YORKER BY J. D. SALGER (WHICH WAS LIKE BEG UPSTAGED BY THE INVISIBLE MAN), DONALD BARTHELME, AND THAT GENUO PUP, JOHN UPDIKE.READG BAILEY’S BGRAPHY RENFIRMS AN IMPRSN OF CHEEVER THAT I’VE RRIED AROUND MY LOCKET FOR YEARS—THAT THE MAN HAD A LOT OF HAM ACTOR HIM, WHICH HE SERVED PRETTY THICK. LIKE ILLTR GLAZED HAMS OF STAGE AND SCREEN SUCH AS JOHN BARRYMORE, CHARL LGHTON, AND JACK NICHOLSON, CHEEVER ENLISTED HIS DIENCE AS -NSPIRATORS, LCULATG HIS EFFECTS DOWN TO THE LAST NOëL COWARD DROP OF SHERRY. HIS ROLE-PLAYG BEGAN OUT OF SOCIAL NECSY AS HE WENT THROUGH THE MOTNS OF KEEPG UP APPEARANC, LIKE A CHARACTER A MIMALIST RTOON STRIP OR A JACQU TATI EDY. AFTER CHEEVER, HIS WIFE, MARY, AND THEIR DGHTER, SIE (WHO WOULD GROW UP TO BE AN THOR HER OWN RIGHT), MOVED TO AN APARTMENT ON SUTTON PLACE THAT THEY ULD BARELY AFFORD, HE TOOK PAS TO PASS HIMSELF OFF AS A MEMBER GOOD STANDG OF THE RPORATE RAT RACE. “ALMOST EVERY MORNG FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, HE’D PUT ON HIS ONLY SU AND RI THE ELEVATOR WH OTHER MEN LEAVG FOR WORK; CHEEVER, HOWEVER, WOULD PROCEED ALL THE WAY DOWN TO A STORAGE ROOM THE BASEMENT, WHERE HE’D DOFF HIS SU AND WRE HIS BOXERS UNTIL NOON, THEN DRS AGA AND ASCEND FOR LUNCH.” HE MIGHT AS WELL HAVE BEEN WEARG PRISON STRIP, SO REGIMENTED WAS HIS ROUTE, AND CHEEVER WOULDN’T DISVER HIS REAL, BREATHG PERSONA UNTIL HE DROPPED THIS OKIE-CUTTER POSE OF UNIFORMY AND MOVED TO THE SUBURBS, WHERE HIS NER WASP ULD UNBEND AND SPCE UP S AFFECTATNS. HIS WARDROBE SELECTN WAS SHABBY CHIC BEFORE THE PHRASE AND STYLE BEME VOGUISH. HIS ACCENT BETIFIED TO A VERABLE FLUTE. “WHEN APPEARG ON THE DICK CAVETT SHOW, OR PUTTG AN IMPUNT BARKEEP HIS PLACE,” BAILEY WR, “CHEEVER BEME ALMOST A PARODY OF THE POMPO TOFF (‘LIKE THURSTON HOWELL III ON GILLIGAN’S ISLAND,’ THE WRER JAM KAPLAN OBSERVED, ‘OR CHATSWORTH OSBORNE DOBIE GILLIS’), BUT AT OTHER TIM—RELAXED, CRACKG JOK—HE SOUND NOT UNLIKE A BOY OM THE SOUTH SHORE WH AN ENGLISH MOTHER.” OUR LERARY LIFE WOULD BE POORER WHOUT S THEATRIL TOUCH-UPS, AND CHEEVER’S ARE NO MORE TO BE BEGDGED AND CENSURED THAN THE PILE OF BUTTERK BATTER THAT JAM DICKEY BEME OR ISAK DEN’S EYE SHADOW. A LTLE SHAMMG DON’T HURT AS LONG AS DON’T BEE THE LAST LE OF BRTLE FENSE. BUT AS CHEEVER GREW OLR AND HIS DRKG SPUN TO A KAMIKAZE SPIRAL, HIS MANNERISMS VELOPED A SPERATE FLUTTER AND HOLLOW RG, AS IF ECHOG OM A CRACKED SHELL. HE MIGHT FOOL HIS FANS WH FTIAN ELOQUENCE, BUT HE ULDN’T BLUFF THE PSYCHIATRIC STAFF OF MANHATTAN’S SMHERS ALHOLISM TREATMENT AND TRAG CENTER, WHERE HE WAS ADMTED 1975 AFTER A BGE THAT LEFT HIM “NAKED AND HERENT.” THEY WEREN’T THERE TO HUMOR HIS LORDSHIP. BAILEY WR:BULLIED AT EVERY TURN FOR HIS “FALSE LIGHT-HEARTEDNS” AND “GRANDSY,” CHEEVER RETREATED TO A VAST, DULENT HUY. “OH, BUT OFURSEYOU’RE RIGHT,” HE’D MUTTER ( SO MANY WORDS) WHEN CHALLENGED. NOBODY WAS FOOLED OR AMED. CAROL KMAN, A STAFF PSYCHOLOGIST, REMARKED THAT CHEEVER REMD HER OF URIAH HEEP: “HE IS A CLASSIC NIER WHO MOV AND OUT OF FOC,” SHE WROTE HER PROGRS NOT. “HE DISLIK SEEG SELF NEGATIVELY AND SEEMS TO HAVE TERNALIZED MANY RATHER IMPER UPPER CLASS BOSTON ATTUS WHICH HE RIDICUL AND EMBRAC AT THE SAME TIME.”IT WAS HIS EROTIC LIFE THAT CHEEVER NSTCTED HIS MOST ORNATE ARTIFICE, SUBJECT TO EROSN. ALTHOUGH HE WOULD STRAY OM THE MARRIAGE BED THAT HE OFTEN FOUND SO LD AND FORBIDDG FOR SEXUAL TERLUS WH MEN, HE PRID HIMSELF ON MATAG A MASCULE ONT WH NO MTY ACCENTS. SWISH HE ABHORRED. “ALTHOUGH HE LOVED MEN,” SAN CHEEVER WR HER BGRAPHIL MEMOIR OF HER FATHER, HOME BEFORE DARK, “HE FEARED AND SPISED WHAT HE FED AS THE HOMOSEXUAL MUNY; THE LIMP-WRISTED, LISPG MEN WHO ARE SOMETIM THE SELF-APPOTED REPRENTATIV OF HOMOSEXUAL LOVE OUR CULTURE. MEN WHO N GIFT SHOPS, SELL ANTIQU, STRIKE BARGAS OVER PORCELA TEA SETS.”FEAR OF EFFEMACY AND DISDA FOR ADORABLE BRIC-A-BRAC DROVE CHEEVER TO POLICE THE PREMIS LIKE A BUTCH WATCHDOG HIS ROLE AS PATRIARCH, BROWBEATG HIS POOR SON, BEN, OVER ANY FEY ACTN, ACRDG TO BAILEY. “YOU LGH LIKE A WOMAN!,” CHEEVER WOULD SNAP AT THE BOY WHEN HE GIGGLED (TERTGLY, THE SMHERS STAFF WERE STCK BY CHEEVER’S OWN CHRONIC TTERG), AND HE ACCED HIS SON OF PAMPERG HIMSELF LIKE SOME STARLET WHEN HE TOOK BUBBLE BATHS. BEN LERALLY HAD TO WATCH HIS EVERY STEP. “[BEN] LIKED TO DANCE ONT OF THE BATHROOM MIRROR—PRETENDG HE WAS A GUNSLGER WHO ULD DANCE SO WELL HE ULD DODGE BULLETS—UNTIL ONE DAY HIS FATHER WALKED : ‘THAT,’ SAID BEN, ‘WAS THE END OF MY DANCG ONT OF THE MIRROR.’” AND WH THE PROMISE OF BEG A FUTURE BILLY ELLT.WHAT BMTENED CHEEVER TO HIS YOUNG PROTéGé MAX ZIMMER, AN ASPIRG WRER WHOM HE HAD MET WHILE VISG THE UNIVERSY OF UTAH, WAS THAT HE WORE WBOY BOOTS AND “HAD NONE OF THE ATTRIBUT OF A SEXUAL IRREGULAR,” SUCH AS RAMPANT ANTIQUG ON WEEKENDS. USG HIS CLOUT AS LERARY WIZARD, CHEEVER CHAMPNED ZIMMER’S WORK AND GOT HIM A SPOT AT THE ARTISTS’ LONY YADDO, SARATOGA SPRGS, NEW YORK, AND HE EXPECTED SOMETHG NICE RETURN. “I KNEW BEFORE I LEFT FOR SARATOGA,” THE MORMON-RAISED MAX REALIZED WH A HEAVY HEART, “THAT I’D HAVE TO GIVE HIM ANOTHER HAND-JOB.” ALTHOUGH CHEEVER SISTED HE HAD NO TENTN OF FEEDG UPON MAX’S WPOKE NOCENCE LIKE A PRAYG MANTIS, HE WAS A WILY CS WHEN ME TO GETTG HIS WAY. WHENEVER ZIMMER BROUGHT A MANCRIPT TO THE MASTER FOR APPRAISAL AND ADVICE, CHEEVER, WHO BELIEVED THAT SEXUAL AROAL SHARPENED HIS EYIGHT AND NCENTRATN, WOULD ASK THAT MAX ASSIST UNBLURRG HIS VISN. SIGH; WAS TIME TO GIVE THE OLD HANDLE ANOTHER CRANK. I AM IRRISTIBLY REMD OF THE EDIAN LOUIS C.K.’S REQUIEM FOR A HALFHEARTED WANK: “THAT HAND JOB WAS PROBABLY THE SADST THG THAT EVER HAPPENED AMERI. THERE SHOULD BE A MONUMENT TO THAT HAND JOB, WH A REFLECTG POOL, WHERE YOU JT S AND THK, ‘GOD THAT WAS FUCKG SAD.’” IT WAS MORE THAN SAD FOR ZIMMER. IT HAD AN AIR OF GENTLE ERCN. AS A UTNARY LSON, CHEEVER WOULD VOKE THE EXAMPLE OF AN EARLIER PROTéGé, ALLAN GURGAN, WHO WOULD EARN BT-SELLG SUCCS WH OLST LIVG CONFERATE WIDOW TELLS ALL. “GURGAN … WAS OFTEN VOKED FOR MAX’S BENEF, BOTH AS THE EMBODIMENT OF TE HOMOSEXUALY (‘HE SUFFERS ACUTELY OM THE LOSS OF GRAVY THAT SEEMS TO FOLLOW HAVG A CK UP YOUR ASS OR DOWN YOUR THROAT ONCE TOO OFTEN’) AND AS LIVG PROOF THAT WAS UNWISE TO SPURN CHEEVER’S ADVANC. AS HE TOLD MAX MORE THAN ONCE, HE’D HELPED GET ‘MOR HEROISM’ PUBLISHED THE NEW YORKER; BUT NOW THAT HE’D WHDRAWN HIS PATRONAGE, GURGAN WOULD NEVER APPEAR THE MAGAZE AGA.” AND GURGAN DIDN’T APPEAR THE NEW YORKER AGA WHILE CHEEVER WAS STILL ALIVE.[#IMAGE: /PHOTOS/54CBF65444A199085E8838]|||WANT MORE WOLTT? VIS HIS BLOG ON |||IT N’T BE SAID THAT CHEEVER PLAYED Y HIS MANVERS WH THE OPPOSE SEX. HE RRIED ON AN TERMTENT FLURRY OF AN AFFAIR WH THE ACTRS HOPE LANGE (THE STAR OF THE BT OF EVERYTHG AND TV’S THE GHOST & MRS. MUIR) ABOUT WHICH HE CROWED FAR AND WI, UNTENANCG HER ADVANCG YEARS WH A URTLY TWIRL, NFIDG TO HIS JOURNAL: “THAT HER VOICE MAY BE SHRILL, THAT HER LOOKS MAY BE PASSG, THAT THERE IS VERY LTLE RRPONNCE OUR TAST ARE THGS I KNOW AND DON’T RE ABOUT AT ALL.” THERE IS SO MUCH ONE IS WILLG TO OVERLOOK WHEN ONE IS DIDDLG A CELEBRY. BUT WASN’T RECIPROL, THIS FORBEARANCE, AS ICE FORMED ON HOPE LANGE’S HIGHER SLOP. “THE CISIVE EPISO HAD OCCURRED AFTER A RECENT LUNCH WHEN, RETURNG TO HER APARTMENT, CHEEVER HAD DROPPED HIS PANTS AND WAED. ‘I N’T HELP YOU,’ SHE SAID, AND MA A PHONE LL.” LEAVG HIM DANGLG. EVEN ARSER THAN CHEEVER’S C SHORTCUTS THROUGH THE ART OF SCTN (ENTER ROOM, DROP DRAWERS) WAS THE SMARMY WAY HE EXTOLLED WOMANLY CHARMS TO HIS FELLOW VALIERS. TO FRERICK EXLEY, THE THOR OF A FAN’S NOT, WH WHOM HE WENT ROLLICKG AT THE IOWA WRERS’ WORKSHOP, CHEEVER WROTE, “WE SEEM TO HAVE SOMETHG BASILLY MON, SOMETHG MORE LAMBENT, I HOPE, THAN HOOTCH AND CUNT.” AND TO MAX ZIMMER HE EXULTED THE AFTERGLOW OF A GALA DNER CELEBRATG THE PUBLITN OF THE STORI OF JOHN CHEEVER THAT WAS HELD HIS HONOR AT LUTèCE, WHERE HE WAS SEATED BETWEEN THE ACTRS LREN BALL AND MARIA TUCCI (THE WIFE OF THE LLECTN’S EDOR), “BASK[G] THAT AGRANCE OF BEAVER WE BOTH SO ENJOY.” I’M SURE THE EVENG WAS A TREAT FOR THEM TOO.OH, THOSE SUBURBAN SUNDAY NIGHTS, THOSE SUNDAY NIGHT BLU! THOSE PARTG WEEKEND GUTS, THOSE STALE CKTAILS, THOSE HALF-AD FLOWERS, THOSE TRIPS TO HARMON TO TCH THE CENTURY, THOSE POSTMORTEMS AND PICKUP SUPPERS! —JOHN CHEEVER, “O YOUTH AND BETY!”NOW WE E TO THE EVABLE STATN STOP THE PIECE WHERE WE SAY, BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THE LIFE, WH ALL S GCHE LAPS AND UNKEMPT PLITNS—WHAT ABOUT THE WORK? THE WORK HOLDS. THE WORK WHSTANDS. AS BAILEY OBSERV, CHEEVER—WHOSE 1977 NOVEL, FALNER, SRED HIM THE VER OF NEWSWEEK (DUE LARGE PART TO DGHTER SAN’S EDORIAL ROLE AT THE MAGAZE) AND WHOSE LLECTED STORI LNIZED HIS PLACE LETTERS (“NOT MERELY THE PUBLISHG EVENT OF THE ‘SEASON’ BUT A GRAND OCSN ENGLISH LERATURE,” MARVELED JOHN LEONARD)—“DIED ALMOST AT THE PNACLE OF HIS FAME.” AND SPE THE BGRAPHIL AND TOBGRAPHIL DISCLOSUR SCE, CHEEVER RETAS A PNACLE RA. HIS WORTH AS THOR HAS NOT SUFFERED THE STEEP DROP-OFF OF HIS FELLOW JOHN, O’HARA. IT ISN’T SIMPLY THAT CHEEVER WROTE MORE HANDSOMELY THAN O’HARA, BUT THAT HIS BT STORI HAVE AN EMOTNAL REACH AND REGRETFUL ACHE THAT THE MORE STONYHEARTED O’HARA WAS PABLE OF, SO TENT WAS HE ON LAYG OUT THE REAL SI DIRT ON HIS UNTRY-CLUB LO. WHATEVER SI DIRT CHEEVER EXTRACTED ON THE SECRET VIC OF SUBURBAN WAS GOLD-FLAKED WH A TENR IDOLIZG OF THE CLOUDS, WD, SUN, RA, SWIMMG POOLS, TENNIS URTS, AND ELEGANT GREENERY THAT POSED THEIR MIATURE KGDOMS. IN THE BT CHEEVER STORI (HIS NOVELS I FD TOO HODGEPODGY), THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHG WILD READY TO BREAK LOOSE ONCE THE LEASH OF PROPRIETY SNAPS, WHICH OFTEN TAK ONLY A FEW DRKS AND A BARED BRA STRAP. LIKE F. STT FZGERALD, CHEEVER WAS A BOTTED ROMANTIC WHO MIGHT SLOP AROUND PERSON BUT WHO KEPT A TT RE ON HIS LYRIL GIFTS, STRIVG FOR AN EXALTED PRECISN OF PERCEPTN THAT WOULD FE HIS SCRIPTIVE PASSAG WH ENOUGH RAPTURE TO KEEP THE MONS TEMPORARILY AT BAY. DPE THE EPIC BOOZG (“YOU DRK LIKE SIBERIAN WORKER!” HE WAS ONCE HURRAHED) AND OTHER DISSIPATNS, CHEEVER HAD A TREMENDO STAMA THAT SAW HIM THROUGH TO THE TRIUMPHANT FISH. A STAMA AND MISSNARY ZEAL WORTHY OF THE PROTAGONIST HIS CLASSIC STORY “THE SWIMMER,” WHO SWAM OM POOL TO POOL A QUIXOTIC QUT TO REACH HOME: “HE WAS NOT A PRACTIL JOKER NOR WAS HE A FOOL BUT HE WAS TERMEDLY ORIGAL AND HAD A VAGUE AND MOST IA OF HIMSELF AS A LEGENDARY FIGURE.” NOT A BAD EPAPH FOR CHEEVER HIMSELF, WHOSE VAGUE MOSTY WAS ALL PART OF THE ACT.JAM WOLTT IS A VANY FAIR NTRIBUTG EDOR.MOST POPULARKYLE DCHANEL, THE ROTHSCHILD WHO WASN’TBY NATE FREEMANADAM SANDLER FDS LOW-KEY TRIUMPH YOU ARE SO NOT INVED TO MY BAT MZVAHBY SAVANNAH WALSHNETFLIX’S MURDGH MURRS IS OFFICIALLY RETURNG FOR SEASON 2: EXCLIVEBY SAVANNAH WALSHJAM WOLTT

In fact, I remember Max flirtg wh me a ltle, and I was shocked; I thought Daddy would be horrified if he knew Max was a homosexual. The lerary appraisals may be fuzzy but what to very sharp foc is people's endurg disfort wh Cheever's gay life, twenty-seven years after his ath. " Cheever "had been a disastro was also a closeted, self-loathg homosexual.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* WAS JOHN CHEEVER GAY

Is John cheever gay? - Answers .

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