The Wapshot Chronicle Author:John Cheever When The Wapshot Chronicle was published in 1957, John Cheever was already recognized as a writer of superb short stories. But The Wapshot Chronicle, which won the 1958 National Book Award, established him as a major novelist. — Based in part on Cheever's adolescence in New England, the novel follows the destinies of the impecun... more »ious and wildly eccentric Wapshots of St. Botolphs, a quintessential Massachusetts fishing village. Here are the stories of Captain Leander Wapshot, venerable sea dog and would-be suicide; of his licentious older son, Moses; and of Moses' adoring and errant younger brother, Coverly. Tragic and funny, ribald and splendidly picaresque, The Wapshot Chronicle is a family narrative in the tradition of Trollope, Dickens, and Henry James.« less
For every Wapshot life was a continuous celebration. In each generation a Wapshot boy awakened to manhood with a certain gamey exuberance, an irrepressible urge to make a dent in the world. Up and out they went...