The Wapshot Chronicle

By John Cheever, 296 pages (1954).

This book tells the tale of a New England family of no importance.  They are one of the good families in St. Botolphs, Massachusetts but that town is unknown even a short ways away.  The book far outstrips its number 63 rating.

It was difficult because the main characters go through more setbacks than successes--perhaps as in life.  The two boys are predictably confronted with challenges that the reader will see a score of pages before they do.  Perhaps as in life, the parents gradually drift out of the picture, only to be reintroduced for some eccentricity or another.  One gem of the characters is their realism and growth throughout the years.

I am quite tardy in writing this review, so I can say no more.  I throughally enjoyed this work and look forward to reading the sequel.

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