Cheever, Belchers

I read an issue of The New Scientist since my last post.

I just finished reading the Cheever biography -- a tragedy amidst literary success, of an alcoholic who couldn't accept his own homosexuality. A lot of people got hurt in the process, it made a good, easy read a depressing one. I also read the Belchers' Collecting Souls, Gathering Dust, about two women artists, one conventional and unsuccessful and one unconventional and successful. There is no doubt in my mind that the yoke of convention broke the back of many a woman looking for fulfillment and self-expression. However, this case study fails to prove it, however well-researched and well-written.