Just an Ordinary Day: The Uncollected Stories Of Shirley Jackson by Shirley JacksonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This collection is all over the place in content and quality. It's a posthumous publication, so it's quite likely that Ms. Jackson herself would have been unimpressed with some of these stories. Certainly, they all show her natural talent as a writer, but the stories written in college and in some cases, the ones written to fill an order from magazines are flat and unpolished. Others read like second drafts of what could have become something amazing. If you're looking for works like "The Lottery", there are a few stories that tip in that direction, especially The Nightmare and The Story We Used To Tell. There are stories that show a lesser known side of Jackson's writing, her twists on the every day life of the women of her time.
Honestly, the majority of these stories didn't merit publication. I'd only recommend this book to someone interested in reading the discards and a few hidden gems of a very talented writer.
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