A review by leifq
Bullet Park by John Cheever

4.0

Cheever's command of the sentence is impressive as per always and his life's thesis concerning the suburbs is present if not particularly consistent with his short stories. Rather than a depressed-soul's malaise, he presents us with a vapid but happy protagonist who is plagued by his inability to see people and events for what they really are and is ultimately stalked by that physical embodiment of counter-culture, Hammer. Billed as a "dark suburban tale," this story is actually something other than that and is resistant to easy categorization as a result. I enjoyed the few days I spent with it and find myself unable to classify and file in my brain - a positive in almost every occasion. I liked the structure and if my ultimate judgment is that I was somehow left wanting either a little more or a little less, this was still an impactful read.