The Wapshot Chronicle

John Cheever’s [The Wapshot Chronicle] recounts the lives of one family in the small Massachusetts town of St. Botolphs. Leander Wapshot’s sons are forced to go out into the world and make their fortune, hoping to prove themselves worthy of their prudish and eccentric aunt, Cousin Honora, the center of the family’s wealth. Coverly travels to Washington, DC, and Moses to New York by train, where they find careers and establish families of their own.

Though the tale might seem pastoral or mundane, Cheever peppers it with colorful characters, like Uncle Peepee Marshmallow, the family nudist, and with outlandish turns in the narrative, like Moses’ naked trek across a castle roof to find his fiancé’s bedroom. There are few dull show more moments in the story, and when you’ve completed the novel, you feel like an honorary citizen of St. Botolphs and an honorary member of the Wapshot clan.

The book bears a strong resemblance to a favorite book of mine, [Winesburg, Ohio] by Sherwood Anderson. Both are rooted in a keen understanding of the subtleties of small town life and the unusual human foibles in such a place. Anderson’s book offers a more sweeping look at the fabric of the community under study, as Cheever tends to focus more on the Wapshots than St. Botolphs.

Cheever’s prose is first-rate, if not as compelling as Anderson’s. Though, Cheever does stand out in one peculiar way. I’ve never read a book quite so descriptive in the areas sound and smell. After reading certain passages, I could smell the mildew and salt in the air and could hear the bronze bell sounding through the town square. It reminded me of Hemingway’s unique and special ability to translate taste into a narrative.

This book was a bit of a surprise to me, and I’d recommend it to anyone.

Four bones!!!! show less

It's gonna happen sometime, people, no matter how you may dread it. Yes, I am referring to my long-planned, heavily-unanticipated, as-yet-unwritten, irritatingly irrelevant monograph on John Cheever, wherein I single-handedly return him to his proper place in the first rank of American novelists. Due in equal parts to Seinfeld and postmodernism, Cheever has become little more than a punch line: a sad symbol of dated postwar suburban cocktail-party angst… well, think again, bitches! The Wapshot Chronicle is a heartbreakingly beautiful novel, full of moral clarity, the inevitability of sin, sex, booze, ambition, jazz, city life, country life, all poured out in chiselled, pristine prose. There will be more to come from me in this show more vein, I promise. Oh yes, I promise. show less

I read this in my favorite way....with absolutely zero idea what it was about. My mind had predetermined (subconsciously) from the cover and title that it was likely some spy thriller. Nope! Nothing like that at all! Here was a multi-generational story of a New England family of minimal means (for the most part) from a small, tidal river community - former bustling seaport - of St. Botolophs. 2 generations of Wapshots - parents and 2 sons each, all drawn to the sea or other adventures, but continually returning to their roots. Dominant women rule this book... a few of them control large money resources the rest only dream of, and the we follow father Leander and sons Moses & Coverly on their paths in search of success and happiness - show more all with mixed results. Cheever has an interesting somewhat clipped style, and we learn much about all our characters,their stories and their surroundings in a fairly easy manner.....but the jumping around was occasionally confusing, especially between the 2 generations of similar makeup. Full of unexpected little bumps in the road or worse, delivered very dead-pan, and often with a humorous bite. Charming, interesting, slightly rambling pleasant read. My first Cheever......more to follow. show less

This classic is considered to be Cheever's best, although I'm not sure I see why. Well-written, this story is about an old family, the Wapshots, who have seen better days. Leander, the patriarch, is a somewhat confused old seahound now consigned to running the family's ferryboat, and is dominated by his wife and the family's slightly loony and controlling matriarch, Honora, herself often confused. The two sons leave at Honora's request to go make their way in the world. They both marry sheltered women who are loving at first, then fractious and flighty to the point of leaving their husbands, then finally repentant in their return. One brother, Moses, runs afoul of a dotty domineering matriarch very similar to Honora. It seems an show more obsession with Cheever, how the women control their men. Cheever also includes a chapter about Coverley's temptation toward homosexuality during his wife's abandonment of him, a confusing episode perhaps explained by Cheever's own, later revealed homosexuality. It must have been a terrible cross for him in the 1950's. A decent story, with a nice final paragraph, but overrated. show less

"The Wapshot Chronicle," the first of John Cheever’s five novels, may have taken him more than a decade-and-a-half to complete, but it was well worth the wait. The novel was published in March 1957 and in 1958 was awarded the National Book Award. More than fifty years have passed since its publication, and today the novel seems to receive neither the attention nor the respect it deserves. This is unfortunate, because today’s reader will still enjoy "The Wapshot Chronicle" and appreciate it as the exceptional work that it is.

The Wapshot family is an old New England family whose best days are long behind it. The family may still be one of the most prominent ones in little St. Botolphs, Massachusetts, but its remaining wealth is show more controlled entirely by the elderly and very eccentric Honora Wapshot who lives alone with her longtime housekeeper. The rest of the St. Botolphs Wapshots, Leander, Sarah, and their two sons, Moses and Coverly, live in a big rambling house not far from Honora and depend on her for the financial support needed to maintain their rather leisurely lifestyle.

"The Wapshot Chronicle" is very much the coming-of-age story of Moses and Coverly, brothers who, as they grow into young men, are suddenly handed responsibility for ensuring Cousin Honora’s continuing financial support of themselves and their parents. The always slightly out of touch Honora, via some logic all her own, sets a goal for the boys that will earn each of them a fortune if accomplished. None of the Wapshots could know, though, how deeply Honora’s deal would mark the rest of their lives.

Cheever fills "The Wapshot Chronicle" with dominating, sometimes cruel and thoughtless, women whom his male characters have little chance of influencing. What happens to Leander and his two sons might seem truly tragic in a different book, but Cheever tells their story with such boisterous good humor, and with such understanding of even his most vicious female characters, that "The Wapshot Chronicle" reads as very much the satirical comedy he intended it to be.

And then there is Honora - life would be much more fun if every family had its own Cousin Honora.

Rated at: 5.0 show less

In many senses of the phrase, this is Cheever's "coming out" book. A debut that startled us with hints of bisexuality and made us wonder how much of the rest of the tale was autobiographical (and therefore true). Where was that fishing village when I was coming out?

So, there are two types of card games. One you play usually as an adult, and each hand has an effect on the following hand. You know, you keep score and there's an ultimate goal. Then there are the games you play, usually as a kid, where each hand stands completely on its own. No scoring. No advantage to winning a hand. And this book is like the second. If you're not really involved in the hand you're playing/chapter you're reading, there's no reason to pay any attention whatsoever, because the following chapter/hand is a whole new beginning.
This is a silly analogy, I know, but it's really how I felt reading the book. Half the time I just couldn't care and would rather have been watching TV. Half the time I was really into it. Chapter show more 8 was amazing- but has no connection to chapter 1-7, or most of the rest of the book. Characters just disappear without trace, constantly. I can't believe it won the National Book Award. That said, it's kind of like watching one of those eccentric BBC shows, with the wacky characters and odd situations and nice set pieces. show less