Rating: 
Summary: An interesting woven biography of a complex, odd, woman.
Review: Bizarre, frenzied, unyielding, biting, caring, passionate, imaginative. Shirley Jackson was all of these and even more. She was a robust woman with a dominating energy and an unparalleled mind that enraptured those who admired her and those who loathed her -- those who could not understand her make-up and or blunt and sometimes subtle eccentricities that made her churn out astonishing classical works in the genera of supernatural and reality based horror, i.e. "The Lottery," "The Haunting of Hill House," the Edgar Allan Poe award-winning short story "Louisa, Please Come Home," to a mammoth collection of other stories and novels as well as nonfiction. "The Lottery," which Jackson is universally recognized for, horrified readers of the prim but stylish New Yorker, angering many but grimly fascinating them in the same process, showing the burning evil in all humanity. What was it about? many wanted to know. In the book, Private Demons: The Life of Shirley Jackson, Judy Oppenheimer gives brief but startling insights as to why she wrote it, Jackson later admitting to a friend that it had to do with the evils of anti-semitism against the Jews, for she saw it seething in the mental inner-workings of the people she encountered in the North Bennington community in Vermont where she resided till her death. Her husband, the noted critic, Stanley Hyman, was a loud, opinionated, womanizing, boozing atheist who dominted Shirley, but in a way, he gave her the love and literary encouragement that nobody else could. They were an odd mix, but their oddities, such as Shirley's interest in witchcraft and casting spells and Stanley's desire to see people fight while adding unnecessary fuel to the fire somehow united them; they were two halves of the same circle. What really made them so right for each other was that they were against convention, the mundane values that their parents tried to imbue in them. However, Shirley Jackson could not let go of the old values, as they were imbedded in her psyche. Those traits are clearly evident in her two family-oriented nonfiction books: Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons. Shirley Jackson's value system clashed together, the new V. the old. That sole problem alone can have astonishing problematic consequences. Shirley Jackson and the Hyman family (which included four children) were neither insiders nor outsiders in their community, and that was why there was always that 'edge' when they were amongst those in the community. This biography is very pellucid in exploring the duality of Shirley Jackson, her family, her cohorts, her parents (who had a very large part in shaping Shirley's outcome as a writer) and her bucolic environment. No stone is left unturned. The only founded criticism that I can apply as a reader is the writing of this biography. Some parts read like a tabloid celebrity biography. It isn't scholarly in the least, but the narritave is rather gripping. That alone makes it enjoyable and easy to skim through.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent work
Review: Just discovered the works of Shirley Jackson, although I'd been familiar with The Lottery since high school. Awesome, totally original writer. I will never tire of reading the first paragraph of "The Haunting of Hill House." The sheer skillful power of her writing ... as Stephen King wrote, she never had to raise her voice. Dug out a short, unsatisfying bio of Ms. Jackson by some German academic, then discovered Ms. Oppenheimer's work. A terrific biography, reads like a great story should. I can empathize somewhat with the Jackson offspring, since I, too, had a mother who was a writer and a giant personality and an overindulger in food and drink. But my mother cleaned up her health and lived till age 77 while Ms. Jackson's overworked heart gave out at age 49, truly a shame.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent work
Review: Just discovered the works of Shirley Jackson, although I'd been familiar with The Lottery since high school. Awesome, totally original writer. I will never tire of reading the first paragraph of "The Haunting of Hill House." The sheer skillful power of her writing ... as Stephen King wrote, she never had to raise her voice. Dug out a short, unsatisfying bio of Ms. Jackson by some German academic, then discovered Ms. Oppenheimer's work. A terrific biography, reads like a great story should. I can empathize somewhat with the Jackson offspring, since I, too, had a mother who was a writer and a giant personality and an overindulger in food and drink. But my mother cleaned up her health and lived till age 77 while Ms. Jackson's overworked heart gave out at age 49, truly a shame.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written and insightful
Review: Most people find out about Shirley Jackson through her famous story "The Lottery", but her many fans will tell you there is much more to her than that one, admittedly wonderful, story. "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" and "The Haunting of Hill House" are compulsory reads for any Jackson fan, and Oppenheimer's book should be on the must-read list too. Jackson wrote some fine horror, and some wonderfully funny "women's magazine" humour: "Life Among the Savages" and "Raising Demons". This book makes it easier to understand the woman behind the two very different kinds of work she produced. Oppenheimer has gathered enough detail to paint a picture of a talented, not very pretty, but determined young woman. There are plenty of details about Jackson's work--including, for example, quite some detail about the creation of "The Lottery", which Jackson's husband, the critic Stanley Hyman, apparently recognized at once for the masterpiece it was. However, the children are as interesting as the books. If you have read Jackson's collections of stories about her children, these portraits will be among the most fascinating parts of the book. Oppenheimer follows up somewhat on the children's lives after Shirley's death, helping to fill in the picture--the youngest, Barry, was only twelve when she died. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: An insightful, competent biography
Review: Ms. Jackson was a singular writer in 20th century America. However, much of her work is not known outside of literary circles and (before this book) less was known about her life. Ms. Oppenheimer's biography sheds considerable light on the latter subject. Ms. Oppenheimer's biography is competent because she interviews several primary resources (notably, Shirley's children) and because it is well-written. This material yields several insights into the life and work of a very good writer and a fascinating human being. While Ms. Jackson might not have appreciated this book, I believe she would have respected the workmanship involved. Writers, readers and researchers everywhere should be grateful.
Rating:
Summary: An insightful, competent biography
Review: Ms. Jackson was a singular writer in 20th century America. However, much of her work is not known outside of literary circles and (before this book) less was known about her life. Ms. Oppenheimer's biography sheds considerable light on the latter subject. Ms. Oppenheimer's biography is competent because she interviews several primary resources (notably, Shirley's children) and because it is well-written. This material yields several insights into the life and work of a very good writer and a fascinating human being. While Ms. Jackson might not have appreciated this book, I believe she would have respected the workmanship involved. Writers, readers and researchers everywhere should be grateful.
Rating:
Summary: One of a kind
Review: She really was one of a kind. She married an ass however he probably made her more prolific than she would have been. I love her writing and wish anyone could come close to it. The book of her life is interesting and somewhat sad. I would have to loved to have met her.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Biography of a Nearly-Forgotten American Master
Review: Shirley Jackson is best known as the author of the chilling short story, "The Lottery", which most every high school student is still required to read. Her eerie novels such as "The Haunting of Hill House" have long been beloved of readers of gothic fiction and ghost stories. But the author herself, who died in 1965, was almost forgotten until Judy Oppenheimer's fine biography restored her to public consciousness. Oppenheimer's book is a model of what a literary biography should be! All the threads of Jackson's life story, her conventional upbringing by parents obsessed with respectability and social-climbing, her chaotic but deeply satisfying marriage, her complicated relationships with her children, are skillfully woven together, to show us how each contributed to her art. All this, and the book is a delightful, detail packed read, the often comic images of Jackson's home life brought vividly into focus by Oppenheimer's precise, effortless prose. This book led me to rediscover Shirley Jackson, her work, and the woman herself - - her genius, her struggles, her very humanness. Truly, an achivement for any biographer!
Rating:
Summary: depressing
Review: The book was an engaging read, and one i would recommend, but I was floored by how depressing Shirley Jackson's life was. I suppose my mistake was reading "Life Among the Savages" and "Raising Demons" before reading the true story behind the funny, anecdotal, pleasant life the other "non-fiction" books presented. I admire her work, and I was saddened to discover the pain in her life - a pain soothed and heightened by alchohol, barbituates, and sleeping pills. An abusive mother (hers, Jackson comes off as a warm loving mother with her moments just like the rest of us), a philandering husband (who saw her genius, and loved her, but still couldn't keep his pants on), and the sad legacy she left behind for her children to cope with. Oppenheimer follows up on their lives, and they appear pretty reclusive and strange (strange can be good, but their brand of strange read as sad). So, although the book left me saddened, I think it was a fine read- a real page turner at that, and will add new insights into the books of hers I haven't read as well as the ones I have.
Rating:
Summary: depressing
Review: The book was an engaging read, and one i would recommend, but I was floored by how depressing Shirley Jackson's life was. I suppose my mistake was reading "Life Among the Savages" and "Raising Demons" before reading the true story behind the funny, anecdotal, pleasant life the other "non-fiction" books presented. I admire her work, and I was saddened to discover the pain in her life - a pain soothed and heightened by alchohol, barbituates, and sleeping pills. An abusive mother (hers, Jackson comes off as a warm loving mother with her moments just like the rest of us), a philandering husband (who saw her genius, and loved her, but still couldn't keep his pants on), and the sad legacy she left behind for her children to cope with. Oppenheimer follows up on their lives, and they appear pretty reclusive and strange (strange can be good, but their brand of strange read as sad). So, although the book left me saddened, I think it was a fine read- a real page turner at that, and will add new insights into the books of hers I haven't read as well as the ones I have.
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