Bullet Park (1969) - John Cheever

Written by John Cheever
Read by Marc Vietor
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

· Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
· Release date: 08-11-09
· Publisher: Audible Studios

Welcome to Bullet Park, a township in which even the most buttoned-down gentry sometimes manage to terrify themselves simply by looking in the mirror.

In these exemplary environs John Cheever traces the fateful intersection of two men: Eliot Nailles, a nice fellow who loves his wife and son to blissful distraction, and Paul Hammer, a bastard named after a common household tool, who, after half a lifetime of drifting, settles down in Bullet Park with one objective—to murder Nailles’s son.

Here is the lyrical and mordantly funny hymn to the American suburb—and to all the dubious normalcy it represents—delivered with unparalleled artistry and assurance.

A Goodreads reviewer….”Extraordinarily bizarre novel with some gorgeous, hilarious sections of writing. I prefer THE WAPSHOT CHRONICLE, which has all the weirdness of this book with more interesting characters. Try to avoid the back jacket copy, or any summary, because the lesson here is in the (insane) delay of plot - it’s a 220 page preamble, then 20 brief pages of action, and if you know what’s coming it will take away most of the fun. The first half of the preamble belongs to Nailes, and is told in a roving 3rd person that details the happenings in Bullet Park and the corresponding dissolution of the protagonist’s psyche.

The second half belongs to Hammer (yes, Hammer and Nailes), and is told in an odd, tight stream-of consciousness first person that has a good deal of surreality, sometimes to its detriment. This section is faster, more character driven, and less good, as the voice loses Cheever’s lyricism. The narrative hook comes in very close to the end of this section, and is quickly resolved in a climax that seems way too easy.”

As an added bonus, when you purchase our Modern Vanguard production of John Cheever’s book, you’ll also receive an exclusive Jim Atlas interview. This interview – where James Atlas interviews Blake Bailey about the life and work of John Cheever – begins as soon as the audiobook ends.