The Letters of Shirley Jackson [B0589]

2021 HCDJ. A bewitchingly brilliant collection of never-before-published letters from the renowned author of 'The Lottery' and 'The Haunting of Hill House'. "This biography-through-letters gives an intimate and warm voice to the imagination behind the treasury of uncanny tales that is Shirley Jackson's legacy."-Joyce Carol Oates.

Shirley Jackson is one of the most important American authors of the last hundred years and among our greatest chroniclers of the female experience. This extraordinary compilation of personal correspondence, compiled and edited by her elder son, has all the hallmarks of Jackson's beloved fiction: flashes of the uncanny in the domestic, sparks of horror in the quotidian, and veins of humor that run through good times and bad.

"i am having a fine time doing a novel with my left hand and a long story-with as many levels as grand central station-with my right hand, stirring chocolate pudding with a spoon held in my teeth, and tuning the television with both feet."

Written over the course of nearly three decades, from Jackson's college years to six days before her early death at the age of forty-eight, these letters become the autobiography Shirley Jackson never wrote. This intimate collection, written over three decades, holds the beguiling prism of Shirley Jackson-writer and reader, mother and daughter, neighbor and wife-up to the light.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "A fascinating glimpse into the life of my favorite writer."; "I listened on Audible and discovered how funny and fascinating Shirley Jackson was "behind the books." I was very sad when the collection ended and very much missed having her in my ear and my head. She is the author I would pick to have dinner with."; "I've always been so so on Shirley Jackson's actual books, but I think I need to revisit this opinion - because WOW! Her letters, written to many people in her life, throughout her life, are amazing. Even if you've never read a Shirley Jackson book, maybe especially then, you should read her letters."