''The Lottery and Other Stories'' is a

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

short story collection by American author

Shirley Jackson Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Her writing career spanned over two decades, during which she composed six novels, two memoirs, and mor ...

. Published by Farrar, Straus, it includes "

The Lottery "The Lottery" is a short story by Shirley Jackson that was first published in ''The New Yorker'' on June 26, 1948. The story describes a fictional small American community that observes an annual tradition known as "the lottery", which is int ...

" and 24 other stories. This was the only collection of her stories to appear during her lifetime. Her later posthumous collections were ''Come Along with Me'' (Viking, 1968), edited by Stanley Edgar Hyman, and ''Just an Ordinary Day'' (Bantam, 1995) and ''Let Me Tell You'' (Random House, 2015), edited by her children Laurence Jackson Hyman and Sarah Hyman Stewart. Jackson's original title for this collection was ''The Lottery or, The Adventures of James Harris''. Characters named James Harris appear in the stories "The Daemon Lover", "Like Mother Used to Make", "Elizabeth" and "Of Course." Other characters with the surname Harris appear or are referenced in "The Villager", "The Renegade", "Flower Garden", "A Fine Old Firm" and "Seven Types of Ambiguity." The collection also contains a short excerpt from the traditional ballad "

The Daemon Lover "The Daemon Lover" ( Roud 14, Child 243) – also known as "James Harris", "A Warning for Married Women", "The Distressed Ship Carpenter", "James Herries", "The Carpenter’s Wife", "The Banks of Italy", or "The House-Carpenter" – is a popular ba ...

", in which the title character's name is James Harris. The book bears the dedication "For my mother and father".

The second, third, and fourth sections are prefaced by quotations from ''

Saducismus Triumphatus ''Saducismus triumphatus'' is a book on witchcraft by Joseph Glanvill, published posthumously in England in 1681. The editor is presumed to have been Henry More, who certainly contributed to the volume; and topical material on witchcraft in Swe ...

'', a 17th century book about

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

, by

Joseph Glanvill Joseph Glanvill (1636 – 4 November 1680) was an English writer, philosopher, and clergyman. Not himself a scientist, he has been called "the most skillful apologist of the virtuosi", or in other words the leading propagandist for the appr ...

. I *"The Intoxicated" *"The Daemon Lover" *" Like Mother Used to Make" *"Trial by Combat" *"The Villager" *"My Life with R. H. Macy" II *"The Witch" *"The Renegade" *"After You, My Dear Alphonse" *"

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

" *"Afternoon in Linen" *"Flower Garden" *"Dorothy and My Grandmother and the Sailors" III *"Colloquy" *"Elizabeth" *"A Fine Old Firm" *"The Dummy" *"Seven Types of Ambiguity" *"Come Dance with Me in Ireland" IV *"Of Course" *"Pillar of Salt" *"Men with Their Big Shoes" *"The Tooth" *"Got a Letter from Jimmy" *"

" V *"Epilogue"

Reception

Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio dr ...

and J. Francis McComas praised the volume as "a brilliant collection of naturalistic glimpses of a world with terrifying holes in it.""Recommended Reading", ''

F&SF ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science-fiction magazine, first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Bouche ...

'', February 1950, p.105 Reappraising the book in 2011 for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Stephanie Cross wrote:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lottery and Other Stories, The 1949 short story collections Short story collections by Shirley Jackson Farrar, Straus and Giroux books

Contents

Reception

See also

References