Thirteen Uncollected Stories By John Cheever

------------------------------------------------------------------ "Thirteen Uncollected Stories by John Cheever" Edited by Franklin H. Dennis Academy Chicago, $19.95 ------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, after a four-year legal battle and a two-year publishing moratorium, some early work by the late John Cheever is seeing the light of day. These 13 stories are winnowed from the original 68 that Academy Chicago planned to publish in 1988, before Cheever's family intervened, saying he wouldn't want them reprinted.

They had a point. Cheever had high standards, and no doubt this collection contains pieces he would have liked to consign to oblivion. Still, however sketchy and uneven, this selection is revealing.

The early Depression-era pieces don't quite work, but they're fascinating as they show the writer trying out all the instruments of language. Later stories - "The Teaser," about an aging striptease artist making an unlikely comeback, or "The Man She Loved," a racetrack tale of muddled marital opportunities - hint engagingly at the writer to come.

"The Opportunity," a 1949 tale about a stagestruck girl whose theatrical instincts are shrewder than anyone guesses, shows Cheever in full flower. With its pixilated, fabular quality, it holds its own against his best work - and only makes one wonder what else has fallen victim to legal battles.