7 John Cheever first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Way Some People Live (1943) to The Stories of John Cheever (1978) across 5 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that John Cheever title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a John Cheever copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- The Way Some People Live — 1943 · Random House, New YorkRandom House, New York, published 8 March 1943 — Cheever's first book, thirty stories arranged roughly chronologically, octavo, bound in original red buckram, in a jacket with the price present at the front flap. Random House's practice across 1936–1975 (per the Quill & Brush publisher guide and the Books Tell You Why publisher article) was to state 'First Edition' on the copyright page of the first printing and…. Census claim confirmed. Random House, New York, 1943 is the only edition and therefore the true first: no UK edition is recorded in the dealer listings or catalogue records consulted, and there is no original-language or precedence question. Cheever refused to let the book be reprinted and his estate maintained that refusal, so there is no later trade edition in English; only three of the thirty stories were ever…. No book-club edition exists, because the book was never reprinted — this is the rare title where reprint tells are largely unnecessary. The only genuine hazards are a later-printing Random House copy, identified by the absence of the first-edition statement on the copyright page, and a supplied or facsimile jacket on an otherwise correct book. Wartime printing in small numbers means fine copies are scarce;….
- The Enormous Radio and Other Stories — 1953 · Funk & Wagnalls Company, New YorkThe first printing is identified by the roman numeral "I" on the copyright page — Funk & Wagnalls' first-printing code. This title is a documented exception to the house's own practice: Quill & Brush record that the "I" appears here WITHOUT any accompanying "First published" statement, so the bare "I" is the point, and an otherwise identical copy lacking it is a later printing. Binding is blue-green cloth stamped…. US Funk & Wagnalls, New York, 1953 is the sole true first; the sources consulted record no contemporary UK edition, so no UK-vs-US precedence question arises. The imprint is itself the trap — Funk & Wagnalls was a reference-book house and this is an outlier in Cheever's run (Random House for The Way Some People Live, 1943; Harper for The Wapshot Chronicle, 1957), which is why the book is routinely misdescribed.…. No book-club tell for this title is documented in the sources consulted. Generic era tells apply — club issues lack the top stain, carry a blindstamp at the rear board, and have no price at the jacket flap — but the decisive check remains the roman numeral "I" on the copyright page.
- The Wapshot Chronicle — 1957 · Harper & BrothersFirst printing carries the Harper two-letter code on the copyright page reading B-G, which denotes February 1957 (first letter = month, second letter = year, with G = 1957), and shows no statement of a later printing. Issued in green cloth boards backed in dark blue cloth, 307 numbered pages. Cheever's first novel; won the 1958 National Book Award. The US Harper & Brothers edition is the true first; the UK Gollancz edition follows. Identify Harper firsts by the alphabetical month/year code on the copyright page rather than by a number line. The first printing is B-G; an early reprint within 1957 shows G-G. The book-club issue lacks the correct Harper B-G code, typically shows a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board, and its jacket lacks the printed price.
- The Wapshot Scandal — 1964 · Harper & RowCopyright page carries 'FIRST EDITION' together with the Harper letter-pair date code, which on confirmed first printings reads 'L-N'. In the Harper code the second letter denotes the year (N = 1964) and the first letter the month, so the first printing shows L-N, not the January 'A-N' form. First-issue jacket carries the printed price on the front flap. US Harper & Row is the true first, preceding the UK Gollancz edition of 1964. Book-club issue lacks the 'FIRST EDITION' / Harper code, is typically blind-stamped on the rear board, and comes in an unpriced jacket.
- Bullet Park — 1969 · Alfred A. KnopfCopyright page states 'FIRST EDITION' with no additional printing line; the Borzoi colophon appears as Knopf's house device. Bound in maroon (burgundy) cloth over boards, the spine lettered in silver, the text block often showing an untrimmed/deckled fore-edge. The first-issue pictorial dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap; a present, unclipped price is expected on an unsophisticated…. US Knopf is the true first, preceding the UK Jonathan Cape edition, also 1969. Book-club issue lacks the stated 'FIRST EDITION', is typically blind-stamped (small dot or square) on the rear board, is lighter and smaller in bulk, and comes in an unpriced jacket.
- Falconer — 1977 · Alfred A. Knopf'First Edition' stated on the copyright page of the true first; the first-state dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap. Be aware that some copies carry a 'Second printing before publication' notice on the copyright page and are not the first printing. The US Knopf edition is the true first; the UK Jonathan Cape edition follows. The book-club issue lacks the 'First Edition' statement, shows a blind-stamp on the rear board, has an unpriced jacket, and tends to have slightly smaller boards.
- The Stories of John Cheever — 1978 · Alfred A. Knopf'First Edition' stated on the copyright page with no later-printing line. Bound in full black cloth boards, the title stamped in gilt on the spine and gilt lettering to the front board; octavo of 693 pages, about 24.5 cm tall. The first-state jacket carries the printed price on the front flap. Collects sixty-one stories including 'The Enormous Radio,' 'The Five-Forty-Eight,' and 'The Swimmer.' The jacket spine is…. The US Knopf hardcover (1978) is the true first. The collection won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award; the 1981 National Book Award it received was for the paperback edition, not the 1978 hardcover. Signed copies exist. The book-club issue lacks the 'First Edition' statement, is slightly smaller, carries a blind-stamp on the rear board, and its jacket bears no flap price (often marked 'Book Club Edition').
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: John Dos Passos, John Fante, John Gardner, John Green, John Grisham, John Hawkes.
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