One of America’s most distinguished writers of short fiction, John Cheever (1912-1982) has been dubbed "the Chekhov of the suburbs," skillfully revealing the inner lives beneath the facade. His collected stories won the Pulitzer Prize in 1979. In addition to his short fictions — including his best-known story "The Swimmer" — Cheever wrote the Wapshot Chronicle novels. In 1982, he was awarded the National Medal for Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.