Fall River and other uncollected stories by John Cheever (1994)

 This volume has a chequered history. It ran foul, after some time in gestation, of the Cheever estate, but the publishers stood their ground and have kept it in print subsequently. It reprints a selection of thirteen early stories that predate his first book in 1943. Given that period, it is no surprise that the earlier ones (the earliest is 1931) particularly show the influence of modernism, with a sense of folk repetition and starkly simple poetry to the prose. They also show his politics, and commitment to the points of view of ordinary people, touched by the depredations of the Great Depression in particular. As the volume progresses and the 40s come into view there is a slight shift toward more straightforward narrative - a different shade of power is embraced. Quiet determination, or desperation, carry with them the Hopperesque hues of midcentury American human conditions. The details don't stay in the mind overly, just an overall mood - the closest I've come to an equivalent would be the greyey-greens of William Maxwell. As a first exposure it is encouraging, and I want to read more, to see what it was that became his signature, and how this one acts as a first instalment. The first published book is crazily expensive now, so here's hoping some of the collections currently available pull all the stories in it together in one group.