What is the summary of John Cheever's short story The Chimera?

Answer 1

A man married to a fat lady and have 3 children is daydreaming. He's having a trouble with his wife and she implicitly threatens to kill him. Olga, his chimerical mistress and his new hope in life, keeps showing up. She is married to a horrible man in California, and she unburden herself to him. He likes her dependence on him. He finds her a job, and she find a small furnished room which is better than her dirty hotel room. Next time he saw her, she told him she thinks she let him down because she slept with a guy in the office, an event that lead her to get fired. She, or he, I don't remember, suggests that they should go to her place that night, he went to the house (they were in the backyard, that's where he usually meets/finds her, he met her in his bathroom once where) to wash his hands, he finds a note written by his daughter "Daddy, don't leave us". He keeps Olga waiting on the porch and she, like any pretty girl, won't wait long for anyone. The next time she visits him, she looks pathetic. This guy the she slept with moves in with her and they gave a party, a late and a noisy party. The police arrested her for using the room for immoral purposes. She told him that her husband wants her back and she's going back to him. She's taking the train tonight. He shouts "don't leave" or something similar. His real wife now tells him to shut up. He realizes now that although Olga has left him, she opened the door for more pretty chimerical women to visit him in his reverie.

Not the best summary for a somewhat unusual story for Cheever.

Answer 2

"The Chimera" is a short story by John Cheever about the deteriorating marriage of a couple, Jim and Irene, as they face financial struggles and personal tensions. The story explores themes of disillusionment, lost dreams, and the impossibility of achieving happiness through material wealth. Ultimately, the couple finds solace in each other as they embrace the imperfections of their life together.