John Cheever, "The Enormous Radio"

A married couple’s new radio tunes into the private lives of everybody else in their building.

(from Vintage Cheever, on loan from the Lori Hill Library)

I like the ’50s-’60s-ish sci-fi vibe of this story, with its post-war ideals and cool B-movie plot device. The end, while it’s a bit melodramatic, drives home the otherwise understated theme of the growing distances between people as society becomes more modern. Other peoples’ problems become entertainment, and, for Irene, it’s the only thing she can do, as she is trapped in the apartment all day. Neat, smartypants stuff.

They had some cocktails and went in to dinner to the ‘Anvil Chorus’ form Il Trovatore.”



Anybody else think it’s weird when you find a typo in a book? I understand typos; I make so many every day. I’m quiet good at it. Typos on blogs? Of course. In newspapers? Used to it. But books? That typo will sit on the shelf until you and the book return to the soil. How did it happen? It wasn’t in the original, which means, what, that somebody had to type in this story? Like by hand? I appreciate the effort. I been there. It has humanized the process.

One thought on “John Cheever, "The Enormous Radio"

  1. Larry Slade

    If you want to hear a rather good radio play adaptation of the story go here:
    feed://otrpodcast.libsyn.com/rss
    It is from 1956.
    I have not read the story, But from the radio play I took it as an examination of the effects of media on people and how they become the media that they consume.
    Everything is going fine until the radio begins delivering the conflicts of others and then in the end, the couple acts out the very same type of conflict.

    Reply

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