The Wapshot Chronicle (Magill Book Reviews)
At a glance:
- Author: John Cheever
- First Published: 1957
- Type of Work: Novel
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism, Regional fiction, Family literature, Satire
- Subjects: Family or family life, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Tradition, Love or romance, Suicide, Twentieth century, Nineteenth century, New York City, New England, Washington, D.C., Life, philosophy of, Eccentrics or eccentricities, Boats or boating
- Locales: New York, NY, Washington, D.C., St. Botolphs, MA
The story opens on Independence Day in St. Botolphs, a declining New England seaport on a silted-up river, where live the descendants of Ezekiel, the 17th century progenitor of the present-day Wapshot clan. Honora, the wealthiest member of the family, sends her nephews, Moses and Coverly, out into the world to earn their inheritance by getting jobs and producing children. The death of their father, Leander, the visionary center of the book, brings Coverly, now a father himself, back for the funeral on another Fourth of July, which closes the action of the plot.
The lyric contents...
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