The Lottery by Shirley Jackson – Audio Book (1948)

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is one of the most well-known short stories ever. First published in The New Yorker in 1948, the story critiques blind adherence to tradition, conformity, and the dark side of human nature. The main character,Tessie Hutchinson, by her own family and neighbors, shows exactly how easily people can be convinced to commit in cruelty when it’s a long-standing custom

The setting for the story itself is a gathering in a small village. Many interpreted the story as an attack on the values of rural communities and “small town America.” As a result, the story engendered an unanticipated avalanche of anger and criticism.

The Lottery was written back in 1948, just as the Cold War was getting under way. Many saw it as an attack on the American way of life, even if it was set in a fiction “village” and not a small town, as would be typical of America.

Thank you!

Shirley Jackson was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Her writing career spanned over two decades, during which she composed six novels, two memoirs, and more than 200 short stories.