Myths of an American Family
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I was unaware of this book until recently, although I had read and loved "Home Before Dark", Susan Cheever's memoir about her father - until I made a pilgrimage to Ossining in New York State to visit the house where John Cheever wrote most of his stuff. I was invited in by Mary Cheever, John Cheever's widow and Susan Cheever's mother, who gave me several cups of tea and talked to me with characteristic American frankness about her life. "Treetops" tells the story of Mary Cheever's family. It is an astonishing story, especially in the early chapters when we learn how Tom Watson, Mary's grandfather, invented the telephone along with Bell and invested his money in a house he called Treetops. Years later, John Cheever spent his summers there, mythologizing the family and the place. For anyone who has enjoyed Cheever's stories about summering on the east coast, "Treetops" is a rewarding experience, since it gives a somewhat less romantic picture of a family who may have been dysfunctional but were always entertaining. As an insight into how money was made and spent in America in the 20th century, "Treetops" is invaluable. America's bizarre compromise between money and class is beautifully described here.
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