‘Bayonne’ by John Cheever

Bayonne by John Cheever, 1936

The magic trick:

Showing the ability to understand all angles of perception

“Bayonne,” published in 1936 is early Cheever, but still very much worth your time. It tells the story of a waitress in a diner, aging and dealing with an identity crisis of sorts.

In one remarkable paragraph, it sums up nicely the stress associated with matching your self-perception with what people see you for and expect from you. Neither the story nor its central character are all that memorable beyond that single paragraph. But that one section demonstrate why its author was about to dominate the next two decades of American fiction.

And that’s quite a trick on Cheever’s part.

The selection:

She wore a black uniform and a pair of low-heeled, dusty shoes that were cracked and run to the sides with use. Her face was full and pleasant and her nose was slightly crooked as if it had been broken. Her hair was dyed a lustreless straw-color but the original shade, a much deeper blonde, showed at the parting in the middle of her head. It was curled in brief, unnatural waves that looked as though they had been set with a scorching iron. Her figure wasn’t good. Her calves were thick and heavy and her breasts were flat. She carried herself well. She walked as if she were beautiful and attractive and as if she knew it. While she was waiting for orders she would give a reassuring touch to the hair at the back of her head and smile at the men sitting by the counter. All of them liked her.

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