Uncollecting Cheever

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 28 SEPT. 1998

The story of how little Academy Chicago Publishing (co-owned by the author and her husband, Jordan Miller) tried to publish the late John Cheever's uncollected short stories, and was blocked from doing so by Cheever's family, is now a familiar part of publishing lore (and law). But it has never been told with the exhaustive yet endlessly fascinating detail to be found here. Miller is partial, of course, but her account has the ring of truth, and there seems no doubt that Academy started out with a valid contract to do what they wanted to do, whether or not the Cheevers had intended it. As editor Franklin Dennis unearthed more and more Cheever material from the New Yorker and elsewhere and the collection became much bigger than had been anticipated, an agent was brought in, lawyers were summoned and the first of a series of costly and exhausting court cases began. This is all described in the liveliest manner by Miller, and anyone who enjoys courtroom repartee will rejoice in it. In the end, the Millers were allowed only a small, token publication, and some judgments were handed down that called much of publishing contract law into question, drawing the angry fire of publishers everywhere. Even worse, Miller points out, were the aspersions cast on the validity and viability of the small presses that make up such an essential part of today's publishing world.