Collected Short Stories

by Shirley Jackson

Great Authors introduces readers to six of the world's premier authors and how they use language to create literary works of art. Each book presents a collection of the author's best short stories, a biography, and insightful notes about the stories. About the Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco, California on December, 14, 1919. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Syracuse University in 1940. Much of her writing was done during the years she was raising her children. She is best-known for the short story The Lottery, which was first published in 1948 and adapted for television in 1952 and into play form in 1953. Her published works include articles, nonfiction prose, plays, poetry, seven novels, and fifty-five short stories. Her other works include Life among the Savages, Raising Demons, The Haunting of Hill House, which was adapted to film, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. She died on August 8, 1965 at the age of 45.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror

104 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

Shirley 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.

Reviews

[tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the only physical copy of anything Shirley Jackson at my library and although it is a very thin book (and also found in the YA section that I normally avoid) I am so glad I decided to check it out.
It contains three short stories by Jackson.
-The Lottery
-One Ordinary Day, With Peanuts
-Charles
Maybe I'm still riding my high after finishing Haunting of Hill House but I enjoyed these stories so much. I'd heard of her story The Lottery before and I definitely understand the hype around it now. It was fucking fantastic and subtly eerie.



You did it again, Shirley.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three short stories by Shirley Jackson, all involving themes and attitude changes. The Lottery is about a town's annual ritual and group think/action. An Ordinary Day, with Peanuts is about small acts of kindness vs. complaining and rude behavior. Charles is about good vs. bad behavior. Good stories to reflect inwardly.

[Hugh Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

All three stories were very interesting with good twists.

[Eaton Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

My version has only three stories. I would give The Lottery five stars any day, and, really, there should be another level for classics that defy rating systems. But the other two stories are only so-so: An Ordinary Day with Peanuts, and Charles.

[Cws]

JAR5-Jac