Daily Archives for: August 30th, 2017

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson (1948) – the controversial short story

By | On August 30, 2017 | Updated June 24, 2026 | Comments (0)

“The Lottery” (1948) is Shirley Jackson‘s best-known short story; it could be argued it’s her most famous classic — even more widely read than The Haunting of Hill House or We Have Always Lived in the Castle. 

Once published, the story quickly catapulted her to fame— or, more accurately, notoriety. Its most potent theme — scapegoating —is all too relevant in today’s world, and so, the story continues to resonate.

Jackson, just in her early thirties, wrote it only three weeks before its publication in The New Yorker (full text as it appeared in 1948),“on a bright summer morning as I was pushing my daughter up the hill in her stroller.” And the story begins, rather benignly: Read More→

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Françoise Sagan Quotes on Love, Life, and Writing

By | On August 30, 2017 | Updated November 18, 2022 | Comments (0)

Françoise Sagan (1935 –  2004), the French novelist, playwright, and screenwriter, was always best know for her debut novel, Bonjour Tristesse, published when she was just 18. Following is a selection of quotes by François Sagan on love, life, and writing.

Sagan went on to have an incredibly prolific career after her freshman effort, coupled with a wild and turbulent life that featured fast cars, drugs, and many love affairs.

Her turbulent life eventually caught up with her health; she spent her last few years ill and and she died in 2004 of a pulmonary embolism at the age of sixty-nine. Read More→

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