Shirley Jackson (Twayne's United States Authors Series ; Tusas 253) [Hardcover]

Lenemaja Friedman (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 182 pages
• Publisher: Twayne Pub (July 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805704027
• ISBN-13: 978-0805704020
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,281,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Starting Block, April 8, 2009

By 

R. Chaffey "beckahi" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shirley Jackson (Twayne's United States Authors Series ; Tusas 253) (Hardcover)

Originally published in 1975, just ten years after Shirley Jackson's death, Lenemaja Friedman's analysis of the author's life and works is a good starting place. However, since many of Shirley Jackson's short stories remained unpublished until the late 1990s, there is much more that needs to be said about her work.

Friedman begins with a basic overview of the author's life. This biographical sketch does not go into great detail but provides some important information about Shirley Jackson. The majority of the text is criticism and analysis of the major short stories that had been published at the time and of Jackson's six novels and her two collections of family chronicles. Friedman does a commendable job with the section dealing with the short stories, analyzing the themes and motifs such as ghosts and evil that Jackson explored in her writing. She dedicates a whole chapter to Jackson's first novel, "The Road Through the Wall," and the next chapter to the two psychological novels that followed. One of the best sections is her chapter on setting within Jackson's novels, "The Sundial," "The Haunting of Hill House" and "We Have Always Lived in the Castle."

For anyone looking for a brief overview of Jackson and perhaps her best known works, Friedman's criticism is a good place to start. It offers insight and thought-provoking analysis into the themes that Jackson wove throughout her writing. Friedman ably shows the paradox that existed within the author and within her work. She wraps it up with a look at Jackson's family chronicles and an overview of how Jackson approached her craft. "Shirley Jackson" by Lenemaja Friedman is a good starting block but far from comprehensive.