John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 – June 18, 1982), known as John Cheever, was an American novelist and short story writer. He is called "the Chekhov of the suburbs." Cheever, who got job in the Federal Writer's Project during the Great Depression, now is recognized as "one of the most important short fiction writers of the 20th century."
Cheever's short story The Five-Forty-Eight was originally published in The New Yorker and collected in The Stories of John Cheever. The story is famous because its focus is primarily on Blake, who is a businessman and the main character of the story. Though the woman’s mental state is somewhat deteriorated, Cheever communicates that her perception of reality is more advanced than Blake’s, which indicates that women are not inferior than men, but ironically, gender inequality still did not get solved perfectly in the Great Depression.
Here is a link to the short story: The Five-Forty Eight
What else, The Wapshot Chronicle(published in 1957) is the first novel by John Cheever. The novel won "National Book Award." In 1998, the Modern Library ranked The Wapshot Chronicle 63rd on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Through the novel, the main theme is the "duality of human nature: sometimes dramatized as the disparity between a character's decorous social persona and inner corruption, and sometimes as a conflict between two characters who embody the salient aspects of both – light and dark, flesh and spirit."
Good writer to choose. Both of your quotes are "snipers," by the way, and I would love to know their sources. Also would be great to know more about the way that Cheever's work reflected or was influenced by the Great Depression. Still, a good choice of a person to use! Would a photo of him have helped, as well?
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