A Cozy Saturday with John Cheever Himself

Take a break and enjoy his own reading of his story "The Swimmer"

“The Swimmer” is one of the great American short stories. It was published in The New Yorker July 10, 1964, and won the Pulitzer Prize 1979, the National Book Critics Circle Award 1978, and the National Book award 1981 collected in The Stories of John Cheever.

As an audiobook aficionado, there’s nothing I enjoy more than the phrase “narrated by the author”. So this is a treat for this cozy holiday Saturday. Put your feet up, grab a hot drink and some holiday snacks, and just stop for 25 minutes. This reading was recorded on December 19, 1977, from the land of shag carpet, fat Christmas lights, and tinsel. Enjoy the pause as you celebrate the third day of Hanukkah or the aftermath of Christmas, or are preparing for the new year.

“The Swimmer” could serve as a master class in writing. Cheever intended it initially to be a novel, but he carved its 150 pages down to its sharp awarding winning 11 pages. Kill your darlings, indeed.