In a patchwork of family life is the pattern of Captain Leander's
belief in the "unobserved ceremoniousness" of life which is a
"gesture and sacrament toward the excellence and continuousness of
things" and through parts of his diary, episodes in St. Botolph's,
at the Wapshots' West Farm (on the New England coast), and in the
gropings of his sons, Moses and Coverly, the lineage and heritage
come through. Come through from an undated Independence Day to
Leander's death after both the boys have left home because of
Cousin Honora's financial blackmailing; after Leander has lost,
regained and lost again the ferry-boat which was his reason for
living; after the daughter - who was not his - of an earlier
marriage- has tried to claim him; after his wife has converted the
ferryboat into a fussy tearoom and gifte shoppe. Through the years
Moses has been dismissed from a Washington top secret job, Coverly
has become a part of rocket launching as a Taper and been deserted
by his wife, and Moses' marriage to the ward of a distant, wealthy,
unpredictable, vengeful widowed cousin has had time to turn from
bad and then to good when the old harridan's ramparts burn, and the
boys make good with sons to claim Honora's promised inheritance.
And since the financial security is based on Wapshot virility, the
Wapshots have their interest in women from a basically sexual
approach; and since their father believes in the romance and
nonsense, the joy and the cockiness of living, theirs is an
uncharted course - for Coverly almost turning to homosexuality and
Moses trying to maintain some balance in a household of financial
dependents. The interludes of Leander's diary and of Honora's
disturbances have a tart sting and the whole offers candor and a
loving care for men and their concerns in a world tyrannized by
women. A rowdy, bawdy, feeling, root-sensed New England gallery,
this has its high - and not quite so high - moments for an audience
which may suffer shock but never shame. Watch the critics. (Kirkus
Reviews)
In the novel that established his reputation as an unparalleled observer of the dialectic between compassion and decorum, John Cheeverfollowed the destinies of the impecunious and wildly eccentric Wapshots of St. Botolphs, Massachusetts. There are the stories of Cap-tain Leander Wapshot, venerable sea-dog and would-be suicide; of his licentious older son, Moses; and of Moses's adoring and errant youngerbrother, Coverly. Tragic and funny, ribald and splendidly picaresque,THE WAPSHOT CHRONICLE is a family narrative in the traditions of Trollope, Dickens, and Henry James.
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