Shirley Jackson's DARK TALES

This collection of 17 tales by the author of "The Lottery" is best read one at a time, with an interval of hearty living, so that the scary disorientation that they effect can be savored fully and not be staled by a strong sense of repetitiveness in the stories. What are the writer's fearful obsessions? The puzzlement of marriage. The mystery of a child. Owning a house. The inarticulacy of a rural community. The strangeness of the city. Old age.The best stories—"Louisa, Please Come Home," "The Honeymoon of Mrs. Smith," and "The Beautiful Stranger"—are not just dark tales but also very sad parables.

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