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Jacksons #1-2
Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons
From review -This is not a review of Shirley Jackson's wonderful semi-autobiographical memoirs of her life with boisterous and at times eerily unsettling kids in Vermont -- LIFE AMONG THE SAVAGES in 1952 followed by RAISING DEMONS in 1957.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1953
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About the author
Shirley Jackson
341 books11.3k followersShirley Jackson was an influential American author. A popular writer in her time, her work has received increasing attention from literary critics in recent years. She has influenced such writers as Stephen King, Nigel Kneale, and Richard Matheson.
She is best known for her dystopian short story, "The Lottery" (1948), which suggests there is a deeply unsettling underside to bucolic, smalltown America. In her critical biography of Shirley Jackson, Lenemaja Friedman notes that when Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery" was published in the June 28, 1948, issue of The New Yorker, it received a response that "no New Yorker story had ever received." Hundreds of letters poured in that were characterized by, as Jackson put it, "bewilderment, speculation and old-fashioned abuse."
Jackson's husband, the literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman, wrote in his preface to a posthumous anthology of her work that "she consistently refused to be interviewed, to explain or promote her work in any fashion, or to take public stands and be the pundit of the Sunday supplements. She believed that her books would speak for her clearly enough over the years." Hyman insisted the darker aspects of Jackson's works were not, as some critics claimed, the product of "personal, even neurotic, fantasies", but that Jackson intended, as "a sensitive and faithful anatomy of our times, fitting symbols for our distressing world of the concentration camp and the Bomb", to mirror humanity's Cold War-era fears. Jackson may even have taken pleasure in the subversive impact of her work, as revealed by Hyman's statement that she "was always proud that the Union of South Africa banned The Lottery', and she felt that they at least understood the story".
In 1965, Jackson died of heart failure in her sleep, at her home in North Bennington Vermont, at the age of 48.
She is best known for her dystopian short story, "The Lottery" (1948), which suggests there is a deeply unsettling underside to bucolic, smalltown America. In her critical biography of Shirley Jackson, Lenemaja Friedman notes that when Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery" was published in the June 28, 1948, issue of The New Yorker, it received a response that "no New Yorker story had ever received." Hundreds of letters poured in that were characterized by, as Jackson put it, "bewilderment, speculation and old-fashioned abuse."
Jackson's husband, the literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman, wrote in his preface to a posthumous anthology of her work that "she consistently refused to be interviewed, to explain or promote her work in any fashion, or to take public stands and be the pundit of the Sunday supplements. She believed that her books would speak for her clearly enough over the years." Hyman insisted the darker aspects of Jackson's works were not, as some critics claimed, the product of "personal, even neurotic, fantasies", but that Jackson intended, as "a sensitive and faithful anatomy of our times, fitting symbols for our distressing world of the concentration camp and the Bomb", to mirror humanity's Cold War-era fears. Jackson may even have taken pleasure in the subversive impact of her work, as revealed by Hyman's statement that she "was always proud that the Union of South Africa banned The Lottery', and she felt that they at least understood the story".
In 1965, Jackson died of heart failure in her sleep, at her home in North Bennington Vermont, at the age of 48.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
July 12, 2023
And this reminded me again why I love Shirley so much. I really need to do read more classics.
Full review to come for each individual book.
Full review to come for each individual book.
February 22, 2010
Usually I read to escape from life and the problem I had with this book is that I was reading about housework and it's mundanity, raising children and it's frustrations - and then I'd put the book down to do exactly that in-real-life. I feel all chored out and I haven't even done any housework today. I do use the word 'frustrations' lightly. Jackson hardly even implied that raising four children, looking after a house, husband and pets - as frustrating. She seemed to find it great fun and not tedious at all. Surely there has to be 'The Secret Diaries of Shirley Jackson' somewhere and they'd be more Plath than positivity.
I think I may have been more interested in her stories if I had read her other work. It's a pity that her world seemed to consist of children and housework and we didn't get to see, well, any of her. Though, they would have been a riot to read if I actually knew her personally, the folk in her small town must've been thrilled to get their hands on this. Well the voyeuristic, nosy ones at least.
I found Shirley Jackson to be a very witty writer, her sentences bounce from one to the next, she's really easy to read. Sometimes it got really tedious though. Like a book compiled simply of lists - have you ever read something like that? List after list. Now, I like lists, but I can hardly sit down and read a book composed of them- they'd have to be extremely thrilling, riveting lists. And riveting, Jackson's life is not. I don't think she left the house bar to run errands in all 810 pages. Well, there was the four or five days in NYC which was really, just more of the same.
She had a rather irritating habit of describing the absolute tedious, mundanities of her daily life. The first time it was funny; I related. Picking up the socks, then picking up the towel, putting the towel in the hamper, and the socks in the hamper, then picking up the bathmat and then putting the bathmat over the edge of the bath - ah, yes, I know what that is like. But I found my eyes glazing over when she wrote such things one too many times.
Here's an excerpt taken from "Life Among the Savages" that explains precisely what I mean; funny on first reading, exhausting on the fifth and torturous by the twentieth time that this formula is used.
My husband caught the grippe first, on a Friday, and snarled and shivered and complained until I prevailed upon him to go to bed. By Friday night both Laurie and Sally were feverish, and on Saturday Jannie and I began to cough and sniffle. In our family we take ill in different manners; my husband is extremely annoyed at the whole procedure and is convnced that his being sick is somebody's fault, Laurie tends to become a little light-headed and strew handkerchiefs around his room, Jannie coughs and coughs and coughs, Sally turns bright red, and I suffer in stoical silence, so long as everyone knows clearly that I am sick. We are each of us privately convinced that our own ailment is far more severe than anyone else's. At any rate, on Saturday night I put all the children into their beds, gave each of them half an aspirin and the usual fruit juice, covered them warmly, and then settled my husband down for the night with his tumbler of water and his cigarettes and matches and ashtray; he had decided to sleep in the guest room because it was warmer. At about ten o'clock I checked to see that all the children were covered and asleep and that Toby was in his place on the bottom half of the double-decker. I then took two sleeping pills and went to sleep in my own bed in my own room. Because my husband was in the guest room I slept on his side of the bed, next to the bed-table. I put my cigarettes and matches on the end table next to the ashtray, along with a small glass of brandy, which I find more efficacious than cough medicine."
Six(!!) pages later, she is still caught up in listing the procedures of them being sick in (I imagine) a monotone drivel. She describes how Sally went into their bed, she went into the spare bed, her husband joined her, then left, the dog took his place, Jannie ended up with the whiskey beside her, Laurie slept in the baby's cot - so on and so forth, and suddenly it wasn't funny anymore. And I was scared, because I was only 136 pages into the book.
I must admit though, her children seem extraordinarily funny and bright. If I were to write memoirs of the activities that happens in my daily life - they'd pale in comparison. My son merely drives his matchbox cars around/demands to eat sugar/watches Ben10. My daughter is only one, so she spends a lot of time screeching and drooling. That is it. I think my son has said one witty thing in his four years of existence and it involved asking what his toenails were made out of. If my children were Shirley Jackson's kids, I probably would have gathered three or four anecdotes in the time I've spent writing this review.
All in all, a light, easy read - I would recommend "Life Among the Savages" over "Raising Demons", but I'd probably recommend reading it in between reading a more exciting book. And really, I don't think it'd be of interest to anyone but housewives with children. Even then, as I've said, it's hardly a book you can escape from your life to. So maybe don't read it. I think I read somewhere that certain parts of her novels were printed in Women's Weekly's and such, which is where I think they belong. Reading a column of her life each week - well I'd look forward to it. In book-form, I just felt a little overwhelmed and daunted. I think that may have more to do with me and my aversion to housework and the tedium of family life, than Shirley Jackson though. My book reviews have all been taking a negative dive lately, so it could very well be my state-of-mind, rather than the books themselves.
I must say, I would have loved to have known her in real life. She seems like such a large character of a woman, sharp and hilarious. It sounds like she always had a delicious batch of cookies or puddings on the ready. And I do have a thing for how women in the 50's chain smoked with such zest (she mentions lighting a cigarette in the taxi on the way to the hospital .. pregnant, in labour!) Her kids could teach mine a thing or two too.
(Upon completion of this review, my son came over and coughed up a chunk of his sandwich onto my leg, see? Not something I want to extend into a 900 tome of a booK, props to Jackson for having more creative, intelligent offspring).
I think I may have been more interested in her stories if I had read her other work. It's a pity that her world seemed to consist of children and housework and we didn't get to see, well, any of her. Though, they would have been a riot to read if I actually knew her personally, the folk in her small town must've been thrilled to get their hands on this. Well the voyeuristic, nosy ones at least.
I found Shirley Jackson to be a very witty writer, her sentences bounce from one to the next, she's really easy to read. Sometimes it got really tedious though. Like a book compiled simply of lists - have you ever read something like that? List after list. Now, I like lists, but I can hardly sit down and read a book composed of them- they'd have to be extremely thrilling, riveting lists. And riveting, Jackson's life is not. I don't think she left the house bar to run errands in all 810 pages. Well, there was the four or five days in NYC which was really, just more of the same.
She had a rather irritating habit of describing the absolute tedious, mundanities of her daily life. The first time it was funny; I related. Picking up the socks, then picking up the towel, putting the towel in the hamper, and the socks in the hamper, then picking up the bathmat and then putting the bathmat over the edge of the bath - ah, yes, I know what that is like. But I found my eyes glazing over when she wrote such things one too many times.
Here's an excerpt taken from "Life Among the Savages" that explains precisely what I mean; funny on first reading, exhausting on the fifth and torturous by the twentieth time that this formula is used.
My husband caught the grippe first, on a Friday, and snarled and shivered and complained until I prevailed upon him to go to bed. By Friday night both Laurie and Sally were feverish, and on Saturday Jannie and I began to cough and sniffle. In our family we take ill in different manners; my husband is extremely annoyed at the whole procedure and is convnced that his being sick is somebody's fault, Laurie tends to become a little light-headed and strew handkerchiefs around his room, Jannie coughs and coughs and coughs, Sally turns bright red, and I suffer in stoical silence, so long as everyone knows clearly that I am sick. We are each of us privately convinced that our own ailment is far more severe than anyone else's. At any rate, on Saturday night I put all the children into their beds, gave each of them half an aspirin and the usual fruit juice, covered them warmly, and then settled my husband down for the night with his tumbler of water and his cigarettes and matches and ashtray; he had decided to sleep in the guest room because it was warmer. At about ten o'clock I checked to see that all the children were covered and asleep and that Toby was in his place on the bottom half of the double-decker. I then took two sleeping pills and went to sleep in my own bed in my own room. Because my husband was in the guest room I slept on his side of the bed, next to the bed-table. I put my cigarettes and matches on the end table next to the ashtray, along with a small glass of brandy, which I find more efficacious than cough medicine."
Six(!!) pages later, she is still caught up in listing the procedures of them being sick in (I imagine) a monotone drivel. She describes how Sally went into their bed, she went into the spare bed, her husband joined her, then left, the dog took his place, Jannie ended up with the whiskey beside her, Laurie slept in the baby's cot - so on and so forth, and suddenly it wasn't funny anymore. And I was scared, because I was only 136 pages into the book.
I must admit though, her children seem extraordinarily funny and bright. If I were to write memoirs of the activities that happens in my daily life - they'd pale in comparison. My son merely drives his matchbox cars around/demands to eat sugar/watches Ben10. My daughter is only one, so she spends a lot of time screeching and drooling. That is it. I think my son has said one witty thing in his four years of existence and it involved asking what his toenails were made out of. If my children were Shirley Jackson's kids, I probably would have gathered three or four anecdotes in the time I've spent writing this review.
All in all, a light, easy read - I would recommend "Life Among the Savages" over "Raising Demons", but I'd probably recommend reading it in between reading a more exciting book. And really, I don't think it'd be of interest to anyone but housewives with children. Even then, as I've said, it's hardly a book you can escape from your life to. So maybe don't read it. I think I read somewhere that certain parts of her novels were printed in Women's Weekly's and such, which is where I think they belong. Reading a column of her life each week - well I'd look forward to it. In book-form, I just felt a little overwhelmed and daunted. I think that may have more to do with me and my aversion to housework and the tedium of family life, than Shirley Jackson though. My book reviews have all been taking a negative dive lately, so it could very well be my state-of-mind, rather than the books themselves.
I must say, I would have loved to have known her in real life. She seems like such a large character of a woman, sharp and hilarious. It sounds like she always had a delicious batch of cookies or puddings on the ready. And I do have a thing for how women in the 50's chain smoked with such zest (she mentions lighting a cigarette in the taxi on the way to the hospital .. pregnant, in labour!) Her kids could teach mine a thing or two too.
(Upon completion of this review, my son came over and coughed up a chunk of his sandwich onto my leg, see? Not something I want to extend into a 900 tome of a booK, props to Jackson for having more creative, intelligent offspring).
August 21, 2014
NOTE: My copy = omnibus of Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons.
I can't recall if this was a pass-along from Mom or something I chose on my own out of the QPB catalog; either way, I'm thankful that I found & read it.
Shirley Jackson is probably best known for her suspense/horror writing - the short story "The Lottery" and the novel The Haunting of Hill House- she brings those same exquisite writing skills to her own world, with essays on 1950's small town domesticity.
I don't think she planned to be a housewife; her children (FULL of personality) seemed to test her sanity on a daily basis, while her husband appeared more as a boarder than a partner. Imagine the storytelling of Erma Bombeck spiked with the sharp wit of Dorothy Parker, and you're in the general ballpark.
I found myself wondering if my grandmother (5 children - 4 boys, 1 girl) ever read any of these stories; from what I recall of her personality and sense of humour, I think she would have enjoyed them immensely.
I can't recall if this was a pass-along from Mom or something I chose on my own out of the QPB catalog; either way, I'm thankful that I found & read it.
Shirley Jackson is probably best known for her suspense/horror writing - the short story "The Lottery" and the novel The Haunting of Hill House- she brings those same exquisite writing skills to her own world, with essays on 1950's small town domesticity.
I don't think she planned to be a housewife; her children (FULL of personality) seemed to test her sanity on a daily basis, while her husband appeared more as a boarder than a partner. Imagine the storytelling of Erma Bombeck spiked with the sharp wit of Dorothy Parker, and you're in the general ballpark.
I found myself wondering if my grandmother (5 children - 4 boys, 1 girl) ever read any of these stories; from what I recall of her personality and sense of humour, I think she would have enjoyed them immensely.
August 21, 2012
When I picked up this tome (published as "The Magic of Shirley Jackson")the first time around, in high school, it was because of my interest in Shirley Jackson's classic thrilling stories like "The Lottery" and "The Haunting of Hill House". I recall skimming over the last two books in this edition "Life Among the Savages" and "Raising Demons", wondering where the scary stuff was. Though I recall the children did seem slightly diabolical, there were little thrills to capture the attention of a teenager. As an adult though, and a mother of two, I sought out these books after realizing they chronicled Jacksons own experience as a wife and mother of four. Both of these books are funny and poignant windows into her life. She has an uncanny ability to recreate the imaginative and brief dialogue of young children, and is able to paint a vivid and engaging picture of her frantic home life. These books are forerunners to excellent writers such as Erma Bombeck and Anne Lamotte. Take the time to seek out both of these books and you will be surprised how little the experience of motherhood has changed.
April 5, 2010
So. Jackson is a horror-writer, by trade, and yet she wrote these two books that deal almost* entirely with her life as a mother to two (three; four) young children. They're considered to be brilliant and hilarious commentaries on blah blah blah - but what struck me was the overwhelming sameness of her life. She spends chapters entirely on minutia. Supposedly this is the hilarious part - that someone sat down and actually wrote what happens when the entire household comes down with the flu. But it's not funny to me - and I doubt it was funny to her. These two books read like a confession - why I put arsenic in the sugar bowl - they've evidence at the trial.
*almost.
Jackson argues with the front desk of the hospital where she is gone, in heavy labor, to deliver her third child:
"What is your occupation?"
"Writer."
"So you stay at home?"
"I'm a writer."
"A housewife?"
"Writer."
"I'm just going to put down 'housewife'."
-- which sums up the entire book, quite neatly.
*almost.
Jackson argues with the front desk of the hospital where she is gone, in heavy labor, to deliver her third child:
"What is your occupation?"
"Writer."
"So you stay at home?"
"I'm a writer."
"A housewife?"
"Writer."
"I'm just going to put down 'housewife'."
-- which sums up the entire book, quite neatly.
August 13, 2010
I did not expect this from Shirley Jackson. What it most reminded me of was Erma Bombeck. She writes these long, run-on sentences in a dry deadpan tone - and the level of sheer mundane detail is what makes it so precise and funny.
The best part is seeing the changes between the 50s and today - the smoking in particular, or when her young daughter brings home a note from school that all the girls are expected to wear dresses, not pants or jeans. These little glimpses of social history were fascinating.
The omnibus edition does get a little long and repetitive after a while. Still great fun.
The best part is seeing the changes between the 50s and today - the smoking in particular, or when her young daughter brings home a note from school that all the girls are expected to wear dresses, not pants or jeans. These little glimpses of social history were fascinating.
The omnibus edition does get a little long and repetitive after a while. Still great fun.
November 6, 2011
I had read Jackson's domestic tales many years ago; they are even more enjoyable now after having raised my own family. Good domestic portrait of the 1950s, and funny.
May 7, 2014
I think this author is my soul mate. She describes the wildness of my home in her stories! A very fun read.
August 31, 2021
Some of her life is dated, but not damn near as much as should be.
This was actually two books combined (really more like 500+ pages, Raising Demons is 310).
Okay. Review. I thought the first book was funnier. Raising Demons had a more depressed edge to it. Her husband seemed less of an ass in the first one. Knowing his reputation, it was more noticeable in this one (only slightly, but I think even someone reading who didn't know would pick up on it). Her youngest two kids...I could read a whole book of just those two!
This was actually two books combined (really more like 500+ pages, Raising Demons is 310).
Okay. Review. I thought the first book was funnier. Raising Demons had a more depressed edge to it. Her husband seemed less of an ass in the first one. Knowing his reputation, it was more noticeable in this one (only slightly, but I think even someone reading who didn't know would pick up on it). Her youngest two kids...I could read a whole book of just those two!
November 3, 2021
Shirley Jackson is famous for Haunting of Hill House, "The Lottery" and We Have Always Lived in the Castle though she wrote a good many creepy short stories. She wrote two funny day-in-the-life novels that remind me of Cheaper By the Dozen. We see a humorous side to Jackson as she struggles to find time to write while raising her children. She's not June Cleever. Not even close. More like Lucy.
May 6, 2023
For its size, a combined volume of two books, it was a breezy read with plenty of laughs to be had. How she describes, often in a slapstick comedic way, of day to day family life, will be relatable to nearly all parents despite generational differences. I loved these books far more than I believed I would and look forward to going back through for a good laugh!
January 4, 2019
I read these books separately, but love this double collection of fun. If you have read Shirley Jackson's short horror story, then you will find these books a bit different.Dealing with kids, their friends, cats,dogs and a crazy life is a humorous journey.
August 1, 2025
The first book is the best and gets quite amusing with family moving to Vermont and dealing with an old house, quirky people, etc. The kids are very unique! The second one gets a little boring towards the end. I’d say just read the first one. Sort of like Erma Bombeck.
August 3, 2017
Dated but enjoyable.
January 3, 2020
This was written in an interesting voice. She really captures her kids in a fun and hair-raising way. I should be clear, I only read "Life Among the Savages".
July 16, 2015
Three and a half, really.
Once upon a time, there was a nice couple who had four children. They all tried their best, had picturesque problems that all got worked out, and they all were quirky and amusing (tres amusante, really). They lived in a beautiful, ramshackle house, had a pile of animals and toys, and in general got along very well.
I enjoyed this glimpse into daily life in Jackson's house, if she is to be believed. The stories all run together, as daily life often does, and I get the impression that she picked the best anecdotes and most interesting quotations from her children over a lifetime of observations. (And maybe polished them up with a little spit shine, in a pinch)
The book is fun to read, and I loved reading about a life so different from my own. I thought she trod well the line between "This is CRAZY, why did I have all these beasts?" and "Look at us, we have a decent life together."
Once upon a time, there was a nice couple who had four children. They all tried their best, had picturesque problems that all got worked out, and they all were quirky and amusing (tres amusante, really). They lived in a beautiful, ramshackle house, had a pile of animals and toys, and in general got along very well.
I enjoyed this glimpse into daily life in Jackson's house, if she is to be believed. The stories all run together, as daily life often does, and I get the impression that she picked the best anecdotes and most interesting quotations from her children over a lifetime of observations. (And maybe polished them up with a little spit shine, in a pinch)
The book is fun to read, and I loved reading about a life so different from my own. I thought she trod well the line between "This is CRAZY, why did I have all these beasts?" and "Look at us, we have a decent life together."
July 16, 2011
Delightful! The woman author about domesticity BEFORE any of us had ever heard of Erma Bombeck, Jackson is hilarious, erudite, and down-to-solid-earth unstuffy. Incredible that from this genius at describing the humor of home life came that dark brilliance, THE LOTTERY! I
Laughed out loud many times as I read this collection of two works, and found myself to be deeply saddened that her lif ended so young. What a bright gift she was to all of us!
Laughed out loud many times as I read this collection of two works, and found myself to be deeply saddened that her lif ended so young. What a bright gift she was to all of us!
May 4, 2010
I reread this book while recovering from foot surgery. I had read it as a child. I wanted to see if it was as funny as a parent. The book details the experiences of Shirley Jackson raising her children. Things were different back then--I miss the days of kids getting sent out to play unsupervised for hours--but her comments on family dynamics were funny and I really enjoyed reading the book.
May 3, 2013
UPDATE: Read together, both works are tedious. I would have enjoyed them with some breathing room in between. Are my own connections to Jackson's fiction a stretch?
After reading LAS: Just finished Life among the Savages. A quick read, and it was entertaining for sure. The children have some truly notable quirks. Time to read Raising Demons.
After reading LAS: Just finished Life among the Savages. A quick read, and it was entertaining for sure. The children have some truly notable quirks. Time to read Raising Demons.
May 27, 2015
Very funny, quirky look at the life of an unusual family in the 1940's. Can't be taken as absolute truth, however, because Shirley Jackson used considerable creative license to sell these stories to women's magazines. That aside, I laughed in many parts until I cried and I have read this entire volume twice.
June 5, 2007
Just ok. This is Shirley Jackson writing about her family in rural New Hampshire. The most interesting facets of this is the kind of social history lesson you get from reading the day to day running of a house, raising of children, etc. Especially interesting after you've read her other books.
December 26, 2008
These books seemed along the lines of Erma Bombeck and (more so) Betty MacDonald. I very much enjoyed them, and somewhat resented that I had to interrupt my reading to go take care of a life which is turning into this kind of thing.
December 3, 2013
I knew that Shirley Jackson wrote chilling American horror but didn't know she had also written amusing magazine for women's magazines in the 1950s. Her children are almost exactly the ages of me and my siblings, so the stories and ambiance were wonderfully familiar.
November 18, 2014
I adore Shirley Jackson. This autobiographical take on her domestic laugh had me laughing out loud. It's been awhile since I've done that. My family kept asking me what was so funny. Interestingly enough, this read reminded me of Gosginny's Nicholas books (translated from French to English).
January 10, 2016
Interesting glimpse into Americana years ago. The author is very droll and the stories she tells are interesting and imaginative. And if this what her children were doing and saying, then the woman deserves more credit than I can give her here.
May 17, 2016
It was ok and there where a lot of normal family life situations that where pretty amusing. I did not like the husband and I think he was a lazy man. But that might be how it was in reality but it is new times now and some of the things he did is not ok.
December 8, 2007
Autobiographical domestic comedy set in the 1950s is a hilarious departure from her earlier publication "The Lottery".
November 2, 2011
These are two books Shirley Jackson wrote about her children. Quite amusing, sometimes hilarious. From the author of The Lottery, this is quite a change of mood.
June 26, 2013
Hilarious
June 15, 2015
Thoroughly enjoyable. Except for the smoking, this could have been written by any mommy blogger today, and I mean that nicely.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews