The Lottery
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"The Lottery" was originally published in the June 26, 1948 issue of The New Yorker. Although it has gained a well-earned reputation as a classic and become one of the most famous short stories in the history of American literature, it initially received a negative response, which surprised both Shirley Jackson and The New Yorker. After its appearance, readers cancelled subscriptions and sent hate mail throughout the summer. The Union of South Africa even banned the story.
This chilling tale of a lottery in a small town which ends in death remains a powerful piece of literature, however, and is a true classic in every sense of the word.
Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson was an American author who is best known for the short story “The Lottery” and the horror novel The Haunting of Hill House. Married to the literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman, Jackson cultivated a literary lifestyle, writing full time and developing relationships with literary colleagues. A gifted writer, Jackson frequently took inspiration from the events and locales of rural Vermont, where she and her family resided, and from the exploits of her children, which were chronicled in Life Among the Savages. Jackson died of heart failure in 1965.
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