Original essays discuss the basic facts of Cheever's life and critical reputation. Providing these facts is especially important in the case of a man who was prone to self-invention and self-mythologizing. Though his version of his life was long accepted as fact, after his death it has been complicated by unflattering revelations in his daughter's memoirs, in his published journals and in two biographies. Other essays discuss Cheever's decorous style and fragmented structure, and his fascination with language.