As a Shirley Jackson fan, I couldn’t pass on this new collection of unpublished short stories. A good chunk of these was unheard of for thirty years until someone unearthed some cardboard boxes in a Vermont barn and then sent them to her heirs.
Unlike The Lottery, where all tales followed a distinct theme, Just an Ordinary
Day has little to unite the stories. Several genres are represented: classic
family stories, supernatural, horror, and unsettling accounts of day-to-day
life in the fifties all make up the list. Not all stories are of the same
level. While most are mature for prime time, a few could have used some more
tinkering, yet they were worth publishing as a precious testimony of an
(infinitely talented) writer’s creative process. At one point, two versions of
the same tale are put side by side, thus allowing a look into how Shirley
Jackson revised her stories and perfected them over time. I think my Italian
(Adelphi) edition includes a selection of the original collection of more than
fifty, which is probably a good thing (I read somewhere that a second book with
the missing pieces is planned).
I would probably not recommend this book as a first-time Jackson reading. Her renowned fiction would be a better entry point1, with The Lottery serving as her must-read short-stories collection. Just an Ordinary Day is an excellent addition to any Jackson collection, with some of its tales deserving recognition at the top of her writing.
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- Somewhat recently, I reviewed We Have Always Lived in the Castle. [return]