Who said “The task of an American writer is not to describe the misgivings of a woman taken in…”?

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John Cheever. A published source records them saying or writing it.

SourceThe Sixties, 1963 entry.

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“The task of an American writer is not to describe the misgivings of a woman taken in adultery as she looks out of a window at the rain but to describe four hundred people under the lights reaching for a foul ball. This is ceremony.”
— John Cheever
VerifiedThe Sixties, 1963 entry. · evidenceWriters and Writing
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Cite this quote

For academic work, cite the original where you can: The Sixties, 1963 entry..

APA

Cheever, J. (n.d.). The task of an American writer is not to describe the misgivings of a woman taken in adultery as she looks out of a window at the rain but to describe four hundred people under the lights reaching for a foul ball. This is ceremony. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/42830-the-task-of-an-american-writer-is-not/

MLA

Cheever, John. “The task of an American writer is not to describe the misgivings of a woman taken in adultery as she looks out of a window at the rain but to describe four hundred people under the lights reaching for a foul ball. This is ceremony.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/42830-the-task-of-an-american-writer-is-not/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Cheever, John. “The task of an American writer is not to describe the misgivings of a woman taken in adultery as she looks out of a window at the rain but to describe four hundred people under the lights reaching for a foul ball. This is ceremony.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/42830-the-task-of-an-american-writer-is-not/.

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“My veins are filled, once a week with a Neapolitan carpet cleaner distilled from the Adriatic and I am as bald as an egg. However I still get around and am mean to cats.”
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“The organizations of men, like men themselves, seem subject to deafness, near-sightedness, lameness, and involuntary cruelty. We seem tragically unable to help one another, to understand one another.”
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“We praise Him, we bless Him, we adore Him, we glorify Him, and we wonder who is that baritone across the aisle and that pretty woman on our right who smells of apple blossoms. Our bowels stir and our cod itches and we amend our prayers for the spiritual life with the hope that it will not be too spiritual.”
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