From Carver back to Chekhov

Love Carver but you can overdose on dysfunctional America: And there's a taste of it in every family.

And a friend says I really need to read the Chekhov of the Suburbs: Cheever. Everything in time.

Ergo: Bouncing back to Chekhov. I wanted to reread some of his letters.

This one is from a letter to a cousin about his mother:

My second request is of more importance. Please go on comforting my mother, who is both physically and morally broken. She has found in you not merely a nephew but a great deal more and better than a nephew. My mother's character is such that the moral support of others is a great help to her. It is a silly request, isn't it? But you will understand, especially as I have said "moral," i.e., spiritual support. There is no one in this wicked world dearer to us than our mother, and so you will greatly oblige your humble servant by comforting his worn-out and weary mother....