Join us to celebrate the publication of When All the Men Wore Hats, a sympathetic and illuminating account of the intersecting life and work of the legendary writer John Cheever, as told by his eldest daughter, Susan Cheever. Susan will be joined onstage by her brother, fellow writer Benjamin H. Cheever, for a conversation about writing, the family legacy, and the connections between art and life.

Copies of When All the Men Wore Hats will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

About When All the Men Wore Hats

In this elegant and loving portrait of a fellow writer—her father— Susan Cheever takes a deep dive into the mechanics and imagination of story-telling. Both a writing lesson and a critical study, this book shows how the flow of influences around him brilliantly merged in John Cheever's imagination and became the best short stories of the century. This work is an exploration of the connections between art and life, delving into how everyday moments—local gossip, myth, even a translation of Madame Bovary—became the seeds for masterpieces like "The Swimmer" and "The Country Husband."

About Susan Cheever

Growing up, Susan, John Cheever’s eldest child and only daughter, read what he read, heard what he heard, bantered and gossiped with him and her brothers and mother at the dinner table, and later watched her father type on the cheap yellow paper he favored. A daughter much like Susan appears in many of Cheever’s stories and a family much like theirs is at the center of his writing.

Susan Cheever is the author of many books on American history, the most recent of which is Drinking in America: Our Secret History. She is also the author of numerous novels; a biography of the Alcoholics Anonymous cofounder Bill Wilson; and Home Before Dark, a memoir about her father, John Cheever. She teaches at Bennington College and the New School in their MFA programs.

About Benjamin H. Cheever

Benjamin H. Cheever has published four novels (The Plagiarist, The Partisan, Famous After Death, The Good Nanny). He’s also responsible for two works of nonfiction (Selling Ben Cheever and Strides). He edited The Letters of John Cheever. He’s taught at The New School for Social Research, and the Bennington M.F.A. program. Cheever, based in Westchester County and father of two adult sons, hosts a TV show called “About Writing,” of which the 50+ episodes can be seen at PCTV76.org.

Contact the host of Book Talk and Signing with Susan Cheever, author of "When All the Men Wore Hats"