Susan Cheever Bücher

Concord in Neuengland, Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts: ein Eldorado für Freidenker. Schriftsteller um Henry David Thoreau schreiben dort ihre wichtigsten Werke und revolutionieren neben der amerikanischen Literatur auch den amerikanischen Lebensstil: ungezwungen, kreativ und naturverbunden. Durch ein Erbe frühzeitig an Geld gelangt, lädt Ralph Waldo Emerson von ihm bewunderte Schriftsteller nach Concord. Was hier entsteht, wird nicht nur die Bewohner der Kleinstadt, sondern die Geschichte der amerikanischen Kultur in Aufruhr bringen. Die Transzendentalisten, wie die Gruppierung um Henry David Thoreau genannt wird, brechen mit allen Anstandsregeln: Nathaniel Hawthorne und Ralph Waldo Emerson verlieben sich gleichzeitig in die exzentrische Margaret Fuller, Louisa May Alcott schwärmt für ihren viel älteren Lehrer Thoreau, sie diskutieren, lesen sich gegenseitig Manuskripte vor, ernähren sich vegetarisch, ersinnen feministische Ideen und unternehmen Streifzüge durch die Wälder Neuenglands. American Bloomsbury ist das faszinierende Zeugnis dieser amourösen und intellektuellen Begegnungen. Es ist die Geschichte von Idealisten, die ihrer Zeit weit voraus waren.

Using a rich collection of unpublished letters, journals, and personal memories, the author offers a heartfelt and intimate portrait of her father, John Cheever. This tribute delves into the complexities of their relationship, revealing both the struggles and the profound connections that defined it. Through this exploration, readers gain a deeper understanding of Cheever's life and legacy, as well as the impact he had on his daughter's journey.

Born into a world ruled by the cocktail hour, in which the solution to any problem could be found in a dry martini, Susan Cheever's existence was both charmed and damned. She and her father, the celebrated novelist and short-story writer John Cheever, were both deeply touched and troubled by alcohol.For the first time addressing the profound effects that alcohol had on her life, in shaping her relationships with men, and in influencing her efforts as a writer, Susan Cheever has written a memoir that is shockingly revealing. She tells of her childhood obsession with the niceties of cocktails and all that they implied -- sociability, sophistication, status; her college days spent drinking beer and cheap wine; and her three failed marriages. It is a compelling story that brings her perilously close to the edge of oblivion. Sober now for several years, Susan looks back on her life with clear-eyed candor in a book about recovery that is wrenching and ultimately inspiring.

We've all felt the giddy flutter of excitement when our new lover walks into the room. Waited by the phone, changed our plans...But are we in love, or is there something darker at work? In "Desire: Where Sex Meets Addiction," Susan Cheever explores the shifting boundaries between the feelings of passion and addiction, desire and need, and she raises provocative and important questions about who we love and why.Elegantly written and thoughtfully composed, Cheever's book combines unsparing and intimate memoir, interviews and stories, hard science and psychology to explore the difference between falling in love and falling prey to an addiction. Part one defines what addiction is and how it works -- the obsession, the betrayals, the broken promises to oneself and others. Part two explores the possible causes of addiction -- is it nature or nurture, a permanent condition or a temporary derangement? Part three considers what we can do about it, including a provocative suggestion about how we describe and treat addiction, and a look at the importance of community and storytelling.In the end, there are no easy answers. "A straight look about some crooked feelings," Desire shows us the difference between the addiction that cripples our emotions, and healthy, empowering love that enhances our lives.