In the following brief article, Byrne discusses the symbolism of names in "The Swimmer."
Like modern writers as diverse as Joyce, Fitzgerald, and Barthelme, John Cheever found an artistic delight in lists, specifically a list of names: "It's perfectly beautiful. You can use an invitation list as a lyrical poem. A sort of evocation. I believe I've used it once or twice." One of Cheever's most anthologized stories, "The Swimmer," includes a list of names representing ports of call on Neddy Merrill's Sunday odyssey: "The only maps and charts he had to go by were remembered or imaginary but these were clear enough. First there were the Grahams, the Hammers, the Lears, the Howlands, and the Crosscups. He would cross Ditmar Street to the Bunkers and come, after a short portage, to the Levys, the Welchers,.....
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