The Lottery, and Other Stories Audiobook By Shirley Jackson cover art

The Lottery, and Other Stories

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The Lottery, and Other Stories

By: Shirley Jackson
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Gabrielle de Cuir, Kathe Mazur, Stefan Rudnicki
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A powerful collection of short stories by Shirley Jackson.

"The Lottery," one of the most terrifying stories of the twentieth century, created a sensation when it was first published in the New Yorker. "Powerful and haunting," and "nights of unrest" were typical reader responses. This collection, the only one to appear during Jackson's lifetime, unites "The Lottery" with 24 equally unusual stories. Together they demonstrate her remarkable range - from the hilarious to the truly horrible - and power as a storyteller.

©2014 Skyboat Media (P)2014 Blackstone Audio Anthologies & Short Stories Classics Fiction Short Stories Scary Witty Funny Suspenseful

Featured Article: The Haunting of Hill House—Book vs. Show


Shirley Jackson was inspired to write the novel after reading about a group of psychic researchers who spent time in a house believed to be haunted. In an essay, Jackson explained that she was less interested in the investigation itself and more intrigued by what could be learned about the people conducting the investigation. If you're a fan of the super creepy Netflix series, here's the lowdown on how the two chilling incarnations stack up.

Featured Article The Haunting of Hill House Book vs. Show
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Deceptively normal-seeming, hypnotic prose delivered by especially talented readers. Mid-20th century suburban hysteria, wars waged with manners, Women on the verge of abject instability. Shirley Jackson is one of a kind (although there is a similar prosaic mastery to Flannery O'Conner's) Anything can happen! (Watch out for Jim/James Harris, tall writer in blue!🤡)

Slow Burn

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Shirley Jackson is a masterful and compelling story teller so I was wary about getting an Audible version. It would take a special bunch of voice actors to do her justice. Well, damned if they didn’t hit it out of the park! Soo good, good, good.

WHAT A VOICE LINE UP

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Maybe 3 really good stories, but that’s about it, and one of those is The Lottery, so slim pickings.

Don’t Bother

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clever writing in horror of the home. the subtext of domestic norms and oddities of family and friends

the tune

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this series is a quiet look at how horrible day to day life can be and the complete lack of empathy that humans have with each other. every chapter you long for a happy ending and pray for the players, but it never comes. the world is a bad place.

heart breaking

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If you like compelling stories, this is for you. If you like closure, maybe it’s not for you. Each story feels about 80% complete, the narrative building until you think, “Oh, that’s odd...”, then just ending. No explanations, no closure. Just well written stories that leave you wondering what just happened and why.

Feels unfinished

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Much like Flannery O Connor short stories I know the characters will end badly, but I still hope. The Lottery could work as a Twilight Zone episode or a scene in a dystopian movie. An interesting outlook enjoyed by one who despises Hollywood endings.

Written in the 40s. Entertaining Still

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i had never heard of shirley jackson before. the voice reading the sample instantly convinced me that i wanted to hear more of the same.

the stories turned out to be just great. they're from a certain historic era. they're like norman rockwell paintings in stories, or like the early roald dahl stories from his "kiss kiss" period. perhaps more simply written, keeping to the surface of the stories, with no overly complex layers of story-telling, or difficult words. the stories seem to have been written for a readership equally happy to be read these stories to at age 8 or 18 or even 88. i could easily see these stories becoming favourites of high school readers around age 15, not least because most of the stories reverberate with a certain uncanny element -- not horrible enough to frighten the reader reading the book alone in a house around midnight, but still making him or her shiver with a certain frisson. the world of the author would be utterly familiar to any american reader, and i could easily imagine any american comic artist illustrating these stories or reworking them into quietly unsettling weird tales. in short, i certainly plan to read everything else by this author that i can get my hands on. (later addition: and i did!)

terrific discovery

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The titles aren't read so they all blend into each other and there's no way to figure out what the titles are.

Titles please!

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What did you love best about The Lottery, and Other Stories?

i love this writer! the pace of the story is unusually satisfying. a steady rhythm of words and ideas that thud, thud, thud, to make their story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

i liked the general malaise of the "modern woman". whether she was a housewife or a career woman much of her life and joy and energy was slowly drained away. i liked that because it is true and holds up a mirror and knowledge is power to change things.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

the narrator didn't get bogged down in so much dialoge

Who was the most memorable character of The Lottery, and Other Stories and why?

the characters were very generic. it was their environment that was more memorable. there was almost a twighlight zone sketch drama about the stories.

Any additional comments?

surprised to see they were written in the 1930-1940's, especially with the similarity to of the lottery story to the now popular story of "the hunger games."

moody , intriguing , entertaining

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