Maybe if I use the day of the week as a title, I'll actually be able to keep track of what day it is (yes, already, confusion has set in as the real world has dissolved).
Just a quick post in the gap before lunch (more pickles?) and after a great craft lecture by our special guest, novelist Brock Clarke, who spoke lovingly of John Cheever and the story "The Cure," in particular. I took a few notes, but mostly I sat entranced, as I, too, love Cheever (and will be talking about "The Reunion" in workshop today) and could listen all day long to someone smart discuss Cheever stories.
But my lack of note-taking doesn't matter, as Brock's great piece was published on The Rumpus, so you can (and should) look it up immediately: http://therumpus.net/2009/10/the-facts-about-john-cheever/
Here's a little tease: "Cheever does matter: he’s one of the greatest twentieth century American fiction writers, and one of the three (along with Flannery O’Connor and Donald Barthelme) most important American short story writers of the same period. This is a fact. It’s a fact because I say it’s a fact, and so you should accept it as such...."