On this day, 60 years ago, The New Yorker published “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson.
People flipped…out—cancelled subscriptions, wrote bags of hate mail. The story was banned outright in South Africa and, according to Wikipedia, ranked seventeenth on Playboy’s list of books most banned by public high schools in the U.S.
This was the only Shirley Jackson story I’d read until I met Prairie, who is a huge Shirley Jackson fan. I was probably in high school when I read it last, so I re-read it a couple of years back, and it’s still an incredibly powerful story.
If you haven’t read it, you can do so here.
(via The Slog, who really should have chosen a different title for their post — there are people who might not have read the story yet, after all.)
Tagged: anniversary, Books, prairie, shirley jackson
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I don’t think there’s anyone with a high school education who hasn’t read “The Lottery.” I know I had to read it at least six different times growing up, no joke. It remains the only Shirley Jackson story I’ve ever read.
Have never read it. First time seeing that. Talk about creepy. It seriously sent shivers down my spine … even from the start. It had a … sinister feel.
Then again, that could have been just me reacting to the sensationalism in the history as presented in your post.
(BTW: I’m not American and this isn’t standard reading in our high schools.)