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The Housebreaker of Shady Hill and Other Stories
One of Cheever's most well known and analysed short stories, about a man with a family in the suburbs who goes through a bunch of twists and turns.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
143 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1958
About the author
John Cheever
275 books950 followersJohn Cheever was an American novelist and short story writer, sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs" or "the Ovid of Ossining." His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the suburbs of Westchester, New York, and old New England villages based on various South Shore towns around Quincy, Massachusetts, where he was born.
His main themes include the duality of human nature: sometimes dramatized as the disparity between a character's decorous social persona and inner corruption, and sometimes as a conflict between two characters (often brothers) who embody the salient aspects of both--light and dark, flesh and spirit. Many of his works also express a nostalgia for a vanishing way of life, characterized by abiding cultural traditions and a profound sense of community, as opposed to the alienating nomadism of modern suburbia.
His main themes include the duality of human nature: sometimes dramatized as the disparity between a character's decorous social persona and inner corruption, and sometimes as a conflict between two characters (often brothers) who embody the salient aspects of both--light and dark, flesh and spirit. Many of his works also express a nostalgia for a vanishing way of life, characterized by abiding cultural traditions and a profound sense of community, as opposed to the alienating nomadism of modern suburbia.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 6, 2019
This is a short collection of stories originally published in 1958, 20 years before his Pulitzer-winning collection. All of these eight stories appear in that later, more inclusive collection. Of note is that all of these stories are about the residents of the fictitious upscale community of Shady Hill. The men commute to Manhattan to work and the women tend to house and children.
I was chatting with a friend who observed that he thought these have a Twilight Zone quality. Of course, when he said that, he was in the midst of watching the Twilight Zone marathon on SyFy over New Year's, so that might have influenced his impression. He noted that one story, "The Five Forty-Eight" had been an episode on Alfred Hitchcock presents, so maybe there is something to that likeness. It has been far too many years since I've watched Hitchcock, but it doesn't surprise me that that specific title would have been produced for that TV show. I'm not sure the others are far enough "out there" to qualify.
So. I tried to think how else to describe these particular stories and I thought of Balzac with his irony. A Balzac likeness doesn't quite fit either because his stories end with a sad ironic twist, yet while Cheever's stories take a turn, his stories are not sad. For the most part, his endings have everything coming right, despite whatever foibles his characters may have.
There isn't a clunker in the bunch. If I said I liked one over another it might be the title story and the final story "The Trouble with Marcie Flint." In each, the character faces what he perceives as a life crisis and finds a solution I think few of us would have considered. I'm glad to have read these, and I think I prefer my story collections shorter like this one.
I was chatting with a friend who observed that he thought these have a Twilight Zone quality. Of course, when he said that, he was in the midst of watching the Twilight Zone marathon on SyFy over New Year's, so that might have influenced his impression. He noted that one story, "The Five Forty-Eight" had been an episode on Alfred Hitchcock presents, so maybe there is something to that likeness. It has been far too many years since I've watched Hitchcock, but it doesn't surprise me that that specific title would have been produced for that TV show. I'm not sure the others are far enough "out there" to qualify.
So. I tried to think how else to describe these particular stories and I thought of Balzac with his irony. A Balzac likeness doesn't quite fit either because his stories end with a sad ironic twist, yet while Cheever's stories take a turn, his stories are not sad. For the most part, his endings have everything coming right, despite whatever foibles his characters may have.
There isn't a clunker in the bunch. If I said I liked one over another it might be the title story and the final story "The Trouble with Marcie Flint." In each, the character faces what he perceives as a life crisis and finds a solution I think few of us would have considered. I'm glad to have read these, and I think I prefer my story collections shorter like this one.
June 22, 2023
Some sad tales.
The Five-Forty-Eight
“Stop,” she said. “Turn around. Oh, I ought to feel sorry for you. Look at your poor face. But you don’t know what I’ve been through. I’m afraid to go out in the daylight. I’m afraid the blue sky will fall down on me. I’m like poor Chicken-Licken. I only feel like myself when it begins to get dark. But still and all I’m better than you. I still have good dreams sometimes. I dream about picnics and Heaven and the brotherhood of man, and about castles in the moonlight and a river with willow trees all along the edge of it and foreign cities, and after all I know more about love than you.”
But then there is the humor.
The brigadier and the golf widow
“I won’t tell you unless you promise.”
“But I can’t promise.”
“Then go away,” she said. “Go away and never, never, come back.”
She was too childish to give the command much force, and yet it was not wasted on him. Could he go back to his own house, empty but for his wife, who would be grinding her ax? Go there and wait until time and chance turned up another friend?
“Please tell me.”
“Promise.”
“I promise.”
“I want,” she said, “a key to your bomb shelter.”
The Five-Forty-Eight
“Stop,” she said. “Turn around. Oh, I ought to feel sorry for you. Look at your poor face. But you don’t know what I’ve been through. I’m afraid to go out in the daylight. I’m afraid the blue sky will fall down on me. I’m like poor Chicken-Licken. I only feel like myself when it begins to get dark. But still and all I’m better than you. I still have good dreams sometimes. I dream about picnics and Heaven and the brotherhood of man, and about castles in the moonlight and a river with willow trees all along the edge of it and foreign cities, and after all I know more about love than you.”
But then there is the humor.
The brigadier and the golf widow
“I won’t tell you unless you promise.”
“But I can’t promise.”
“Then go away,” she said. “Go away and never, never, come back.”
She was too childish to give the command much force, and yet it was not wasted on him. Could he go back to his own house, empty but for his wife, who would be grinding her ax? Go there and wait until time and chance turned up another friend?
“Please tell me.”
“Promise.”
“I promise.”
“I want,” she said, “a key to your bomb shelter.”
October 29, 2021
John Cheever brings another interesting character for viewing in his "The Housebreaker of Shady Hill" What makes someone turn into a thief? If you are steal from rich people does that make it less a crime? Johnny Hake seems to be trending to this way to support his family after his jobs don't pan through. Johnny seems to be living life not thinking to clearly about tomorrow but surviving today. I did not care for Johnny but his inability to fire Buckham gave him a more favorable character.
Short story in short- Johnny Hake is told by his employer to fire a family man with troubles but he can not bring himself to do the deed, so he is the one that gets the boot.
"I couldn’t possibly. The children have been saving for months to buy you that damned-fool contraption.” “You don’t know what I’ve been through,” I said. “If you’d been through hell, I wouldn’t forgive you,” she said. “You haven’t been through anything that would justify your behavior. They’ve had it hidden in the garage for a week. They’re so sweet.” “I haven’t felt like myself,” I said."
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
Johnny seems to have a mediocre job that barely makes due, he has bills and after he is fired for not firing Gil Bucknam, who has not been a good worker lately and has a drinking problem, Johnny feels sorry for him. Johnny tries to make it on his own, having his own office but fails, not telling his wife any of his troubles and since his mother did not want him to marry Christina, has refused to help him in the past. After a dinner party given by their rich friends, the Warburtons, who also live in Shady Hill and hearing about the amount of money, he carries home from work, Johnny returns to the Warburtons' home late after everyone is asleep, stealing $900 that was in his wallet. Life still is going on and no job prospects, he does not curve his spending and after his children given him a ladder for his birthday, he complains. Christina complains and tells him, she finds him unbearable and can't wait till he leaves for work. Johnny tells her, he will leave and packs a suitcase that their puppy had tore the handle. He makes it to the train station determined to leave, he has even placed a "for sale" sign on his lawn before he left. Then after 5 minutes at the station, he returns home and finds his wife walking down the street, they go home to bed. This fight seems to me so real in the life of some married couples, words and actions that seem like the end but then making up and living life together again. Money is needed again and after seeing another rich man at the club, he again tries another break in but when trying to find money, he comes up empty handed and fear strikes him, he quietly leaves. When things look so bad and his conscience is bothering him, a phone call from Buckham telling Johnny, he is invited to work there again, his old boss died. Johnny is looking at things differently, he feels happy. After he receives a raise, he decides to put the $900 in an envelope and without fingerprints, places it on the kitchen table. A policeman sees Johnny out late and Johnny tells him, he is walking a his dog, who is nowhere in sight. When the policeman came on the scene, I thought it was the end for the thief and thought it funny that he would be caught bringing the money back, but that was just my assuming the worse. The dog who tore his suitcase, helps his master find freedom.
“I couldn’t possibly. The children have been saving for months to buy you that damned-fool contraption.” “You don’t know what I’ve been through,” I said. “If you’d been through hell, I wouldn’t forgive you,” she said. “You haven’t been through anything that would justify your behavior. They’ve had it hidden in the garage for a week. They’re so sweet.” “I haven’t felt like myself,” I said.”
"It is not, as somebody once wrote, the smell of corn bread that calls us back from death; it is the lights and signs of love and friendship. Gil Bucknam called me the next day and said that the old man was dying and would I come back to work? I went to see him, and he explained that it was the old man who was after my skin, and, of course, I was glad to come home to parablendeum. What I did not understand, as I walked down Fifth Avenue that afternoon, was how a world that had seemed so dark could, in a few minutes, become so sweet. The sidewalks seemed to shine, and, going home on the train, I beamed at those foolish girls who advertise girdles on the signboards in the Bronx."
"As I was walking away from the house, a police car drew up beside me, and a patrolman I know cranked down the window and asked, “What are you doing out at this time of night, Mr. Hake?” “I’m walking the dog,” I said cheerfully. There was no dog in sight, but they didn’t look. “Here, Toby! Here, Toby! Here, Toby! Good dog!” I called, and off I went, whistling merrily in the dark."
Short story in short- Johnny Hake is told by his employer to fire a family man with troubles but he can not bring himself to do the deed, so he is the one that gets the boot.
"I couldn’t possibly. The children have been saving for months to buy you that damned-fool contraption.” “You don’t know what I’ve been through,” I said. “If you’d been through hell, I wouldn’t forgive you,” she said. “You haven’t been through anything that would justify your behavior. They’ve had it hidden in the garage for a week. They’re so sweet.” “I haven’t felt like myself,” I said."
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
Johnny seems to have a mediocre job that barely makes due, he has bills and after he is fired for not firing Gil Bucknam, who has not been a good worker lately and has a drinking problem, Johnny feels sorry for him. Johnny tries to make it on his own, having his own office but fails, not telling his wife any of his troubles and since his mother did not want him to marry Christina, has refused to help him in the past. After a dinner party given by their rich friends, the Warburtons, who also live in Shady Hill and hearing about the amount of money, he carries home from work, Johnny returns to the Warburtons' home late after everyone is asleep, stealing $900 that was in his wallet. Life still is going on and no job prospects, he does not curve his spending and after his children given him a ladder for his birthday, he complains. Christina complains and tells him, she finds him unbearable and can't wait till he leaves for work. Johnny tells her, he will leave and packs a suitcase that their puppy had tore the handle. He makes it to the train station determined to leave, he has even placed a "for sale" sign on his lawn before he left. Then after 5 minutes at the station, he returns home and finds his wife walking down the street, they go home to bed. This fight seems to me so real in the life of some married couples, words and actions that seem like the end but then making up and living life together again. Money is needed again and after seeing another rich man at the club, he again tries another break in but when trying to find money, he comes up empty handed and fear strikes him, he quietly leaves. When things look so bad and his conscience is bothering him, a phone call from Buckham telling Johnny, he is invited to work there again, his old boss died. Johnny is looking at things differently, he feels happy. After he receives a raise, he decides to put the $900 in an envelope and without fingerprints, places it on the kitchen table. A policeman sees Johnny out late and Johnny tells him, he is walking a his dog, who is nowhere in sight. When the policeman came on the scene, I thought it was the end for the thief and thought it funny that he would be caught bringing the money back, but that was just my assuming the worse. The dog who tore his suitcase, helps his master find freedom.
“I couldn’t possibly. The children have been saving for months to buy you that damned-fool contraption.” “You don’t know what I’ve been through,” I said. “If you’d been through hell, I wouldn’t forgive you,” she said. “You haven’t been through anything that would justify your behavior. They’ve had it hidden in the garage for a week. They’re so sweet.” “I haven’t felt like myself,” I said.”
"It is not, as somebody once wrote, the smell of corn bread that calls us back from death; it is the lights and signs of love and friendship. Gil Bucknam called me the next day and said that the old man was dying and would I come back to work? I went to see him, and he explained that it was the old man who was after my skin, and, of course, I was glad to come home to parablendeum. What I did not understand, as I walked down Fifth Avenue that afternoon, was how a world that had seemed so dark could, in a few minutes, become so sweet. The sidewalks seemed to shine, and, going home on the train, I beamed at those foolish girls who advertise girdles on the signboards in the Bronx."
"As I was walking away from the house, a police car drew up beside me, and a patrolman I know cranked down the window and asked, “What are you doing out at this time of night, Mr. Hake?” “I’m walking the dog,” I said cheerfully. There was no dog in sight, but they didn’t look. “Here, Toby! Here, Toby! Here, Toby! Good dog!” I called, and off I went, whistling merrily in the dark."
July 17, 2015
The Housebreaker of Shady Hills by John Cheever
As they would say in Little Britain- Gorgeous, 10 out of 10
The hero-or is it the villain? - Of this story is tall and strong.
- Or isn’t he?
What a confusing beginning for a note that is supposed to clarify at least myself, in a few years time, when I may wonder about this short story.
If the first question is more serious, for I have not figured out if the lead man is good or bad, the second refers to the American measurements.
We are told in the first sentence in stone or pounds the weight and then the number of feet, which can figured out easily on the net.
- But then, why would anyone put down weight and height if they depict a lousy image?
The more important aspect regarding our main character is present in the title and has to do with thieving.
But things are not as clear cut as we may be tempted to decide, thinking that
- Once a thief always a thief or
- What else we need to know in order to classify him as a villain?
He works with people that could be considered worse and then my country is lead by a bunch of crooks and idiots –except for the president.
For me this story raises a question-
- If the petty thief is to blame and needs to be punished, what about the big sharks?
We have saying that goes something like this
- The uncaught thief is an honest trader…or perhaps broker, peddler, etc.
All around our villain-hero people sell shoddy goods or stocks and speak in plain terms about their targets-
- He is so weak it is like robbery
- With their money, you can clean them of a million and they would not feel a thing.
So the housebreaker, who took a smaller amount than the aforementioned million, seems a good guy
- At least from the perspective of a Bernard Maddoff, who robbed people of billions
Where I come from, there is a permanent feeling that justice is not being served towards housebreakers and PSD barons alike.
A house breaker is a serious criminal, although the one in the story makes amends- I won’t say in which way- but stiff penalties face people who moved a fence.
There was this old woman, in her eighties I guess, that faced a few years jail sentence for moving a fence with a few feet.
And that in circumstances where people are not sure about important property limits and big shots embezzle hundreds of millions.
There is even a sense that it is worth stealing some millions, when all you have ahead is the perspective of a few years behind bars.
The serious financial criminals have been learned the lesson of paying shadow writers to write fake books for them.
In this way they are freed after a short stint in prison and they go to Dubai, French Riviera and the like to spend the money they stole from the rest of us.
Somehow Housebreakers become role models…which is crazy and reflects upon the society, the collective psyche that has been so fucked up…mostly by the communist regime- I think.
As for Cheever’s Housebreaker- it is a wonderful story.
As they would say in Little Britain- Gorgeous, 10 out of 10
The hero-or is it the villain? - Of this story is tall and strong.
- Or isn’t he?
What a confusing beginning for a note that is supposed to clarify at least myself, in a few years time, when I may wonder about this short story.
If the first question is more serious, for I have not figured out if the lead man is good or bad, the second refers to the American measurements.
We are told in the first sentence in stone or pounds the weight and then the number of feet, which can figured out easily on the net.
- But then, why would anyone put down weight and height if they depict a lousy image?
The more important aspect regarding our main character is present in the title and has to do with thieving.
But things are not as clear cut as we may be tempted to decide, thinking that
- Once a thief always a thief or
- What else we need to know in order to classify him as a villain?
He works with people that could be considered worse and then my country is lead by a bunch of crooks and idiots –except for the president.
For me this story raises a question-
- If the petty thief is to blame and needs to be punished, what about the big sharks?
We have saying that goes something like this
- The uncaught thief is an honest trader…or perhaps broker, peddler, etc.
All around our villain-hero people sell shoddy goods or stocks and speak in plain terms about their targets-
- He is so weak it is like robbery
- With their money, you can clean them of a million and they would not feel a thing.
So the housebreaker, who took a smaller amount than the aforementioned million, seems a good guy
- At least from the perspective of a Bernard Maddoff, who robbed people of billions
Where I come from, there is a permanent feeling that justice is not being served towards housebreakers and PSD barons alike.
A house breaker is a serious criminal, although the one in the story makes amends- I won’t say in which way- but stiff penalties face people who moved a fence.
There was this old woman, in her eighties I guess, that faced a few years jail sentence for moving a fence with a few feet.
And that in circumstances where people are not sure about important property limits and big shots embezzle hundreds of millions.
There is even a sense that it is worth stealing some millions, when all you have ahead is the perspective of a few years behind bars.
The serious financial criminals have been learned the lesson of paying shadow writers to write fake books for them.
In this way they are freed after a short stint in prison and they go to Dubai, French Riviera and the like to spend the money they stole from the rest of us.
Somehow Housebreakers become role models…which is crazy and reflects upon the society, the collective psyche that has been so fucked up…mostly by the communist regime- I think.
As for Cheever’s Housebreaker- it is a wonderful story.
November 21, 2015
Only read – actually listened – to one story from this collection on Selected Shorts podcast. "The Worm in the Apple" is a story of a picture perfect marriage, no worm can be found!
November 18, 2023
I don't know why I never thought of something like this, an anthology focused on a subset of interconnected characters. All the short stories are free to exist on their own but they are also interwoven in a way that gives each story a little extra juice if you have that context.
I really, really dug this but, then again, I'm a sucker for this kind of thing: the seemingly normal suburb outside NYC of Shady Hill, full of ostensibly perfect upper middle-class residents with husbands taking the commuter train into the city each day for their white collar jobs and stay at home moms all on 8 committees each and obsessing over dinner and cocktail parties each night.
But right from the get go, Cheever makes it clear that these squeaky clean suburbs aren't what they seem. Sure, to a modern audience, this type of thing might feel a little played out. But this type of epiphany would have felt a lot more fresh back in the 1950's on release. These stories are full of philanderers, perverts, voyeurs, abusers, there's even a death or two mixed in.
Not every story works but, treated as a collection, the book is more than the sum of its parts.
I really, really dug this but, then again, I'm a sucker for this kind of thing: the seemingly normal suburb outside NYC of Shady Hill, full of ostensibly perfect upper middle-class residents with husbands taking the commuter train into the city each day for their white collar jobs and stay at home moms all on 8 committees each and obsessing over dinner and cocktail parties each night.
But right from the get go, Cheever makes it clear that these squeaky clean suburbs aren't what they seem. Sure, to a modern audience, this type of thing might feel a little played out. But this type of epiphany would have felt a lot more fresh back in the 1950's on release. These stories are full of philanderers, perverts, voyeurs, abusers, there's even a death or two mixed in.
Not every story works but, treated as a collection, the book is more than the sum of its parts.
November 25, 2023
this is a rating for 'the housebreaker...' only.
it's great. made me feel awful. even though it had a relatively happy ending with something like redemption for the character, it made me feel things i didn't want to feel, made me think about how many stupid, rotten, thoughtless things i've done. i guess that's something i wish i could have avoided but full credit for seeing into my character & what a really lousy pos i am. thanks.
it's great. made me feel awful. even though it had a relatively happy ending with something like redemption for the character, it made me feel things i didn't want to feel, made me think about how many stupid, rotten, thoughtless things i've done. i guess that's something i wish i could have avoided but full credit for seeing into my character & what a really lousy pos i am. thanks.
January 9, 2021
Nice to read a short story collection with some real venom in it.
June 24, 2009
I really appreciated this collection of short stories -- I think it highlighted a truth that only exists for the upper-middle class early suburbanites. I adored the way that Cheever captured these early small-towners' ideas about climbers, those born in the working class, the "developments" that were on their way, and the evil of the public library.
A few lines struck me..."I'm against anything public, anything that would make this community attractive to a development...and at the word "development" a ridge covered with identical houses rose in his mind. It seemed wrong to him that the houses he imagined should be identical and that they should be built of green wood and false stone. It seemed wrong to him that young couples should begin their lives in an atmosphere that lacked grace..."
What foresight into today's recession and credit crisis. I hated the suburbs prior to reading this book; still do...but this comical insight into their beginnings and erosion from Hopper painting to Warhol print gone bland helped me understand... a bit.
A few lines struck me..."I'm against anything public, anything that would make this community attractive to a development...and at the word "development" a ridge covered with identical houses rose in his mind. It seemed wrong to him that the houses he imagined should be identical and that they should be built of green wood and false stone. It seemed wrong to him that young couples should begin their lives in an atmosphere that lacked grace..."
What foresight into today's recession and credit crisis. I hated the suburbs prior to reading this book; still do...but this comical insight into their beginnings and erosion from Hopper painting to Warhol print gone bland helped me understand... a bit.
January 11, 2008
Another great Cheever book I inherited (first edition vintage hardcover no less!) from friends who hated it. I adored these stories...suburbia's hell and paradise...if you want to know the lives your parents (well most of you here, your grandparents) really lived in America...this is a pretty good cross-section...and he'll show you the stuff they didn't put in the family album as well...some weird, great awful scenes in here...the malady of impossible love is a big theme in here...but not mawkish...he lets his lovers humiliate themselves for you...watch several of them turn shamelessness into victory...it's a fun read...
May 18, 2008
I first read this book when I was a kid, and of course I didn't really get it. Maybe I do now, maybe I don't. Cheever's tales of stifled-but-hedonistic bedroom community life are not as outdated as you might think, and I love the no-fuss writing. It's a book of short stories that all revolve around the same place and contain some of the same characters, which is nice for me: I have a hard time getting into short stories, but this felt like a novel in bits and pieces.
September 14, 2015
Not as fun as his later work, based on the only other Cheever book I've read, "Falconer," but still a great writer. Cheever is like Salinger for grown-ups. Disaffected rich guy who writes about how usual it is for our society to overlook problems in the life we accept as normal/right. Very critical of bourgeois 1950s America, but written from the bourgeois perspective. Again, his later stuff is more visceral, this collection of short stories seemed superficial in comparison to "Falconer."
May 19, 2013
I'd read all of these before in the collected stories volume but these are some of my favorites of his and it was nice to read them together. Can't really go wrong with any Cheever short story. Reading a bunch of vaguely overlapping ones doesn't really require an excuse.
August 20, 2008
the real world of Mad Men suburbs. amazing
June 13, 2014
A wonderful collection of stories about life in the 1950's suburbia. It really made me think about how hard, lonely and boring it was to be a middle class woman in the 50's.
December 15, 2013
John Cheever's got a spot in my cynical heart.
February 17, 2013
Life in Fairfield County, CT circa 1950
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews