,

Shirley Jackson


Born
in San Francisco, California, The United States
December 14, 1916

Died
August 08, 1965

Genre


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, specul
...more

Average rating: 3.91 · 789,552 ratings · 76,743 reviews · 291 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Haunting of Hill House

3.82 avg rating — 303,546 ratings — published 1959 — 492 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
We Have Always Lived in the...

3.94 avg rating — 227,305 ratings — published 1962 — 225 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Lottery

4.06 avg rating — 90,213 ratings — published 1948 — 72 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Lottery and Other Stories

by
4.03 avg rating — 77,600 ratings — published 1949 — 163 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Life Among the Savages

3.98 avg rating — 8,194 ratings — published 1953 — 11 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Hangsaman

3.78 avg rating — 8,491 ratings — published 1951 — 51 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Dark Tales

4.01 avg rating — 7,288 ratings — published 2016 — 16 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Sundial

3.80 avg rating — 6,140 ratings — published 1958 — 58 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Bird's Nest

3.73 avg rating — 6,075 ratings — published 1954 — 46 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Witchcraft of Salem Vil...

3.80 avg rating — 4,057 ratings — published 1956 — 30 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
More books by Shirley Jackson…
Life Among the Savages Raising Demons
(2 books)
by
4.02 avg rating — 11,183 ratings

Related News

  If it seems like a lot of your favorite books are turning into movies and TV series lately, you’re right. Extremely right. In fact, it’s...
149 likes · 82 comments
If you want to find a quality scary story, it’s always a good idea to go to the experts. Since the Crypt Keeper is currently in...
231 likes · 23 comments
What happens when two best friends team up with a has-been horror director to undo a cinematic curse that accidentally awakens the...
100 likes · 9 comments
Quotes by Shirley Jackson  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality.”
Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House

“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”
Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House

“A pretty sight, a lady with a book.”
Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Polls

What should our October 2016 alt be?

 
  57 votes 34.1%

 
  45 votes 26.9%

 
  17 votes 10.2%

 
  13 votes 7.8%

 
  12 votes 7.2%

 
  9 votes 5.4%

 
  7 votes 4.2%

 
  7 votes 4.2%

167 total votes
More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
The Next Best Boo...: What You Wish You Read in High School 47 503 Jul 30, 2009 10:44AM  
Pick-a-Shelf: 2009-10 - Paranormal - What will you Read in October 50 120 Oct 22, 2009 04:08PM  
The Book Challenge: Meghan's Other 2009 Challenges 11 253 Oct 31, 2009 09:58AM  
The Life of a Boo...: Need suggestions for one of my goals 42 120 Nov 21, 2009 03:15PM  
Challenge: 50 Books: Collections of Short Stories 15 582 Nov 25, 2009 11:35AM