The Lottery and Other Stories is a 1949

1949 in literature

The year 1949 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Arthur C. Clarke becomes Assistant Editor of Science Abstracts.*Bertrand Russell receives the Order of Merit....

 short story collection by American author Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson was an American author. A popular writer in her time, her work has received increasing attention from literary critics in recent years...

. Published by Farrar, Straus, it includes "The Lottery

The Lottery

"The Lottery" is a short story by Shirley Jackson, first published in the June 26, 1948, issue of The New Yorker. Written the same month it was published, it is ranked today as "one of the most famous short stories in the history of American literature"....

" 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), 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

"The Daemon Lover", also known as "James Harris", "James Herries", or "The House Carpenter" is a popular English ballad. It tells the story of a man , who returns to a former lover after a very long absence, and finds her with a husband and a baby...

," in which the title character's name is James Harris.

Contents

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 (short story)
  "Charles" is a short story by Shirley Jackson, first published in Mademoiselle in July 1948. It was later included in her 1949 collection, The Lottery and Other Stories, and her 1953 novel, Life Among the Savages...
  
  "
• "Afternoon in Linen"
• "Flower Garden"
• "Dorothy and My Grandfather 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"
• "The Lottery
  The Lottery
  "The Lottery" is a short story by Shirley Jackson, first published in the June 26, 1948, issue of The New Yorker. Written the same month it was published, it is ranked today as "one of the most famous short stories in the history of American literature"....
  
  "

V

• "Epilogue"

Reception

Anthony Boucher

Anthony Boucher

Anthony Boucher was an American science fiction editor and author of mystery novels and short stories. He was particularly influential as an editor. Between 1942 and 1947 he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle...

 and J. Francis McComas

J. Francis McComas

Jesse Francis McComas was an American science fiction editor. McComas wrote several stories on his own in the 1950s using both his own name and the pseudonym Webb Marlowe....

 praised the volume as "a brilliant collection of naturalistic glimpses of a world with terrifying holes in it."

See also

• "The Daemon Lover
  The Daemon Lover
  "The Daemon Lover", also known as "James Harris", "James Herries", or "The House Carpenter" is a popular English ballad. It tells the story of a man , who returns to a former lover after a very long absence, and finds her with a husband and a baby...
  
  "
• Macy's
  Macy's
  Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
  
  
• Alphonse and Gaston
• Seven Types of Ambiguity
  Seven Types of Ambiguity (Empson)
  Seven Types of Ambiguity was first published in 1930 by William Empson. It was one of the most influential critical works of the 20th century and was a key foundation work in the formation of the New Criticism school. The book is organized around seven types of ambiguity that Empson finds in the...