Cheever offers U. a glimpse at new book

Dressed in black, with her mouth close to the microphone, author Susan Cheever read the first chapter of her work-in-progress about an alleged murder in San Fransisco yesterday afternoon in Logan Hall. The non-fiction work, which is still untitled, is about two friends of Cheever and her husband Warren Hinckle, with whom she is writing the book. The men, Art and Jim Mitchell, were brothers and best friends, who built a San Fransisco pornography empire together. Last February, Jim Mitchell was accused of shooting and killing Art. "It's a sad story about codependence, what happens when you have guns and alcohol in the same house and what happens when two people become too close," Cheever said. As she was reading, Cheever occasionally stopped and apologized to her audience for some unpolished parts of the work. "This is rough," she said. "As I read, I can see things that should come out and things that need to be in." Cheever said she and Hinckle are writing this book as a joint venture to produce a "defense book," as opposed to the other books being written about the incident which focus on the "sleezy" aspects of the Mitchells' lifestyles. Cheever said the book will deal with both the legal aspects and implications of the First Amendment and pornography. It is scheduled to be published after Mitchell's trial in February. "I'm convinced it was an accident," Cheever said during the question and answer period which followed her reading. "If I thought Jim was guilty of murder one, I probably wouldn't write the book." Cheever said this work is different from others she has written since it is non-fiction and unrelated to either her mother or her father, the late author and National Medal for Literature recipient John Cheever. Most of the students and faculty members at the recital said they were impressed with Cheever's work. "I hadn't read her work before, but I can't wait until her next book comes out," said College freshman Celeste Perron. The reading marked the third PEN at Penn program this semester.

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