The Five-Forty-Eight - John Cheever - Literary Roadhouse Ep 138

Discussion Notes: The Five-Forty-Eight

Find this week’s story here:  The Five-Forty-Eight by John Cheever

Next week’s story, a Halloween Special: Listen to an audio version of The Crowd by Ray Bradbury

Rated: Clean

Gerald, Rammy, and Anais discuss “The Five-Forty-Eight” by John Cheever. All three hosts loved this story, which was remarkably similar in theme and protagonist to last week’s story, but very different in terms of style, mood, prose, and tension. Cheever’s story is full of symbols that allude to the monotony of mediocre, suburban life, and the men who feel entitled within it. If you enjoyed this discussion, be sure to listen to last week’s discussion on “A Rich Man” by Edward P. Jones.

Note: Although Anais wins the game at the end, our discussion of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek” by Ambrose Bierce will not post until the first week of November. Next week it’s Halloween and we’re enjoying a spooky Ray Bradbury treat!

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Psst: Full list of short stories discussed on the podcast >>