The Wapshot Chronicle

By: John Cheever

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

When The Wapshot Chronicle was published in 1957, John Cheever was already recognized as a writer of superb short stories. But The Wapshot Chronicle, which won the 1958 National Book Award, established him as a major novelist.

Based in part on Cheever's adolescence in New England, the novel follows the destinies of the impecunious and wildly eccentric Wapshots of St. Botolphs, a quintessential Massachusetts fishing village. Here are the stories of Captain Leander Wapshot, venerable sea dog and would-be suicide; of his licentious older son, Moses; and of Moses' adoring and errant younger brother, Coverly.

Tragic and funny, ribald and splendidly picaresque, The Wapshot Chronicle is a family narrative in the tradition of Trollope, Dickens, and Henry James.

As an added bonus, when you purchase our Audible Modern Vanguard production of John Cheever's book, you'll also receive an exclusive Jim Atlas interview. This interview – where James Atlas interviews Blake Bailey about the life and work of John Cheever – begins as soon as the audiobook ends.

This production is part of our Audible Modern Vanguard line, a collection of important works from groundbreaking authors.

©1957 John Cheever (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The best introduction to Cheever's work.... Richly inventive and vividly told." ( The New York Times Book Review)

"[John Cheever is] a master American storyteller." ( Time)

Long Meandering Tale

Though the author has a gift with words and listening to the Wapshot Chronicle has its times of funny or poignant interest, overall it seemed to go nowhere. I listened to the end, waiting for some conclusion, something to tie the thing together, but its not there. Instead it is a tale about an eccentric, all-over-the place family, that in the end is sad to me. I don't know about you, but who wants to hear, over and over about three men who meander through life and never really resolve anything?

Surprisingly Great

I thought I had never heard of Cheever and was surprised how great this novel was. I looked up the author after enjoying the novel and found he was the author of several of my all time favorite short stories including "The Swimmer" and "The Enormous Radio".

This novel is long and complex with interesting and dynamic characters that not only grow, but vacillate, as real people do. The writing is bold, yet makes subtle points with rye, satirical, humor.

Some reviews call the story meandering, and it one sense it is, but there is method below the meander, and for me it was very enjoyable.

The narration was clear and enjoyable.

Beautiful 1950s Great Expectations-like Novel

"Man is not simple. Hobgoblin company of love always with us."

The Wapshot Chronicle is a twin Bildungsroman of sons Moses and Coverly, framed by the letters, journaling, and loneliness of their father Leander. It is a crazy beautiful 20th Century Great Expectations-like novel of a family's depth and breadth, its secrets and its flaws. The two brothers are saddled with the albatross and obligation to insure ensure that Old Honora’s keeps paying the bills (future) for the boys and (current) for their parents.

Cheever fills his novel with dominating mothers, idiosyncratic and co-dependent guardians, changeable wives and costly lovers. The trinity of Wapshot men, float throughout Cheever's novel in a wayward, rudderless boat. Their lives are constantly taking on water and they seem destined to be blown further from the shore by the dominant humor of the nearest strong-willed female.

The characters in The Wapshot Chronicle were amazing. Its language and narrative were incredible. Cheever's satire and ribald humor constantly bit this reader in his lusty-for-good-literature ass.

beautiful novel, absolutely stunning narration.

A novel and world you truly get sucked into and become a part of - and much credit to Joe Barrett for his terrific performance and for bringing the wapshots to life.

On the chronicling of family quirk and disfunction

#johncheever earned a great living churning out short stories for the New Yorker, a talent for which my well read In-laws knew him well and loved him. As a family of bibliophiles who have consumed countless volumes each over a lifetime, I was surprised to discover that, when I pulled them, none had read any of his novels.

So, when diving into the #thewapshotchronicle , number 63 on my list of the #modernlibrarytop100novels , I had limited frame of reference as to expectation other than a knowledge that Cheever had earned a reputation as a prolific documentarian of the 50's era American Middle Class. This aspect of his writing comes through in two of the book's main characters, Moses and Coverly Wapshot, two brothers who were the benefactors of an old New England family name in a small Massachusetts coastal town with a cash strapped father and a rich aunt who controls the family legacy as well as the purse strings.

One of the family legacies is this tendency of many of the men to keep personal diaries from which the title is derived, and the family secrets that can be learned from them. As a prolific daily journal keeper myself, I understand that, though I have done this primarily as a method of keeping notes with respect to my fertile imagination that churns up endless story ideas (and, of course, the accompanying side effect of not remembering so many fleeting musings) and, to be candid, a residual fear of Alzheimer's which permeates my maternal line.

Being that this was not only Cheever's debut novel but noted as semi-autobiographical, I am sure Cheever had a similar inclination to denote mundane events that mask profound ideas. #joebarrett , the #audible performer, was outstanding and I will seek out other works by him.

I recommended this to my in-laws who seemed reticent about reading a novel from one of their favorite short story writers. It is humourous and, at times, painful. But it shows how legacies endure, even when that legacy took root in a small, seaside New England town.
#americanliterature #readtheworldchallenge #reatheworld #globalreadingchallenge