My Friendship With John Cheever

by Chris Epting
Literature has been the salvation of the damned, literature has inspired and guided lovers, routed despair and can perhaps in this case save the world. - John Cheever
In a California bookstore recently, I saw a copy of The Short Stories of John Cheever, my all-time favorite collection of short fiction. On the table near it was a book that I wrote called James Dean Died Here. Light years apart in terms of impact and importance, still, seeing the two books near each other gave me a special feeling; a deep connection to a past chapter in my life.
It was 1975 up in Westchester Coun...