Appreciating John Cheever

Even though he has won a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award for his short stories, John Cheever may not be at the top of your reading list — and Here and Now pop culture critic Renee Graham thinks that's a shame.

She developed a love for his work as a college student.

Graham grew up in the inner city, in a lower middle class family and said Cheever changed her thinking.

"You tend to think that upper middle class white people have it all figured out," she said. "Then suddenly I read Cheever and I go 'Oh my God--they don't have it all figured out.'"

She finds his stories beautifully written. "There's a lot of humor, a lot of poignancy...they're so beautifully alive,they're going to be resonant for generations to come," she said.