Me on Cheever; Cheever on Me?
The block quote is worth reading, especially if you think Cheever just wrote about trains leaving Manhattan, plus that one magical realism story about swimming in the suburbs.
You could say this is a story about a woman marrying well. But it’s also about a woman, who once had no choices, making one. Like any decision, this one comes with compromises, namely being married to an old guy. But it’s a compromise that allows her to live a fuller life and to never lose the passion to enjoy pleasure. The part of me that wants “and always the teeth with which to bite the meat” on my left ribcage woke up from a nap with the Sunday Times littered around my couch and needed a reminder to make the most of my day. But the part of me that will never get this tattoo knows its absurd to have a line from an obscure John Cheever story forever on my side when it’s already in my heart.