Items related to Life Among the Savages
Synopsis
Shirley Jackson, author of the classic short story The Lottery, was known for her terse, haunting prose. But the writer possessed another side, one which is delightfully exposed in this hilariously charming memoir of her family's life in rural Vermont. Fans of Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Cheaper by the Dozen, and anything Erma Bombeck ever wrote will find much to recognize in Shirley Jackson's home and neighborhood: children who won't behave, cars that won't start, furnaces that break down, a pugnacious corner bully, household help that never stays, and a patient, capable husband who remains lovingly oblivious to the many thousands of things mothers and wives accomplish every single day.
"Our house," writes Jackson, "is old, noisy, and full. When we moved into it we had two children and about five thousand books; I expect that when we finally overflow and move out again we will have perhaps twenty children and easily half a million books." Jackson's literary talents are in evidence everywhere, as is her trenchant, unsentimental wit. Yet there is no mistaking the happiness and love in these pages, which are crowded with the raucous voices of an extraordinary family living a wonderfully ordinary life.
Continuously in print since 1948, Jackson's Haunting of Hill House has been bought by Dreamworks.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
Can this be the author of such chilling tales as The Lottery and The Haunting of Hill House? An ordinary housewife stuck in a big, shabby house with three marvelous, demanding children and a charming husband who takes detached interest in the chaos they generate? Yes, it's Shirley Jackson all right: the precision of her observations and prose is familiar, even if her humor is something of a surprise. Not until Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions in 1993 would another woman write with such honesty about the maddening multitude of trivial, essential chores that constitute a mother's life. But Jackson nailed it first, 40 years earlier, in her hilarious chronicle of life in a small Vermont town, where getting the kids to school on time requires the combined gifts of a drill sergeant and a lady's maid. The saga of her son's bumpy adjustment to kindergarten, frequently anthologized as Charles, is justly famous, but Jackson's account of the Department Store Trip from Hell (two kids, two toy guns, one doll carriage and doll, mayhem in revolving doors and escalators) is even funnier. Although her memoirs are as merciless as her ghost stories, you may not notice because you're laughing so hard. --Wendy Smith
About the Author
Shirley Jackson (1919–1965), a celebrated writer of horror, wrote many stories as well as six novels and two works of nonfiction.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherPenguin Books
- Publication date1997
- ISBN 10 0140267670
- ISBN 13 9780140267679
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages256
- Rating
Buy New
Learn more about this copy
US$ 23.00
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Stock Image
Life Among the Savages
Seller: Goodwill of Colorado, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Acceptable. This item is in overall acceptable condition. Covers and dust jackets are intact but may have heavy wear including creases, bends, edge wear, curled corners or minor tears as well as stickers or sticker-residue. Pages are intact but may have minor curls, bends or moderate to considerable highlighting/ writing. Binding is intact; however, spine may have heavy wear. A well-read copy overall. Please note that all items are donated goods and are in used condition. Orders shipped Monday through Friday! Your purchase helps put people to work and learn life skills to reach their full potential. Orders shipped Monday through Friday. Your purchase helps put people to work and learn life skills to reach their full potential. Thank you!. Seller Inventory # 466SUS0011M9
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Life Among the Savages
Seller: Book Deals, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Fair. Acceptable/Fair condition. Book is worn, but the pages are complete, and the text is legible. Has wear to binding and pages, may be ex-library. 0.7. Seller Inventory # 353-0140267670-acp
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Life Among the Savages
Seller: THE OLD LIBRARY SHOP, Bethlehem, PA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Soft Cover. Condition: vg. Ross MacDonald, cover il (illustrator). 1st Penguin ptg.; 7.75" tall; 241 pages; color il on front of white cover; slight browning to pp. Paperback. Seller Inventory # 181150
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Life Among the Savages
Seller: 369 Bookstore _[~ 369 Pyramid Inc ~]_, Dover, DE, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Softcover. Condition: Good. Shirley Jackson, author of the classic short story The Lottery, was known for her terse, haunting prose. But the writer possessed another side, one which is delightfully exposed in this hilariously charming memoir of her family\'s life in rural Vermont. Fans of Please Don\'t Eat the Daisies, Cheaper by the Dozen, and anything Erma Bombeck ever wrote will find much to recognize in Shirley Jackson\'s home and neighborhood: children who won\'t behave, cars that won\'t start, furnaces that break down, a pugnacious corner bully, household help that never stays, and a patient, capable husband who remains lovingly oblivious to the many thousands of things mothers and wives accomplish every single day.\"Our house,\" writes Jackson, \"is old, noisy, and full. When we moved into it we had two children and about five thousand books; I expect that when we finally overflow and move out again we will have perhaps twenty children and easily half a million books.\" Jackson\'s literary talents are in evidence everywhere, as is her trenchant, unsentimental wit. Yet there is no mistaking the happiness and love in these pages, which are crowded with the raucous voices of an extraordinary family living a wonderfully ordinary life.Continuously in print since 1948, Jackson\'s Haunting of Hill House has been bought by Dreamworks. Seller Inventory # AMPLE0140267670
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Life Among the Savages
Seller: Shadetree Rare Books, Chatham, VA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. VERY GOOD SOFTCOVER. Seller Inventory # L8230
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Life Among the Savages
Seller: Book Alley, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
paperback. Condition: Good. Good. Used with age toning to pages but is still in solid reading condition. Pasadena's finest new and used bookstore since 1992. Seller Inventory # mon0000679261
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Life Among the Savages
Seller: Books Unplugged, Amherst, NY, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Good. Buy with confidence! Book is in good condition with minor wear to the pages, binding, and minor marks within 0.7. Seller Inventory # bk0140267670xvz189zvxgdd
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Life Among the Savages
Seller: Book Deals, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Very Good. Very Good condition. Shows only minor signs of wear, and very minimal markings inside (if any). 0.7. Seller Inventory # 353-0140267670-vrg
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Life Among the Savages
Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR004750665
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Life Among the Savages
Seller: BooksByLisa, Highland Park, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # ABE-1701566020693
Quantity: 1 available