Shirley Jackson's American gothic / Darryl Hattenhauer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hattenhauer, Darryl.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jackson, Shirley, 1916-1965--Criticism and interpretation.

Jackson, Shirley.

Jackson, Shirley, 1916-1965.

Horror tales, American--History and criticism.

Horror tales, American.

Gothic revival (Literature)--United States.

Gothic revival (Literature).

Criticism and interpretation.

United States.

Physical Description:

x, 236 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [2003]

Summary:

Best known for her short story "The Lottery" and her novel The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson produced a body of work that is more varied and complex than critics have realized. In fact, as Darryl Hattenhauer argues here, Jackson was one of the few writers to anticipate the transition from modernism to postmodernism, and therefore ranks among the most significant writers of her time. The first comprehensive study of all of Jackson's fiction, Shirley Jackson's American Gothic offers readers the chance not only to rediscover her work, but also to see how and why a major American writer was passed over for inclusion in the canon of American literature.

Contents:

Introduction: Shirley Jackson and Proto-Postmodernism 1

1. Some Conditions of Production 15

2. The Lottery or, The Adventures of James Harris (1949) 29

3. Come Along with Me: Part of a Novel, Sixteen Stories, and Three Lectures (1968) 49

4. Just an Ordinary Day (1996) 67

5. The Road Through the Wall (1948) 83

6. Hangsaman (1951) 99

7. The Bird's Nest (1954) 119

8. The Sundial (1958) 137

9. The Haunting of Hill House (1959) 155

10. We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962) 175.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-222) and index.

ISBN:

0791456072

0791456080

OCLC:

50064871