The unpretentious lady on the book cover above is Shirley Jackson, one of the top short story writers in American history, whose work has influenced modern writers such as Stephen King and Richard Matheson.
If you haven’t read Ms. Jackson, you’re missing a treat. Not only is she the author of “The Haunting of Hill House”, but the fabulous short story called “The Lottery”.

“The Lottery” was first published by The New Yorker in June of 1948.
Without giving away any spoilers, let’s just say it presented a rather unsettling glimpse into human nature.
It was so bloody good that the magazine made only a single editorial adjustment to the original manuscript—and that was the date of the event.
“The Lottery” then proceeded to generate a response that “no New Yorker story had ever received.” Hundreds of letters poured in.

Interestingly, the later letters were the ones that seemed concerned about the ‘meaning’ of the story.
The earlier letters were mainly from people who wanted to know where such lotteries were held, and if they could go there and watch.
Personally, I find that as disturbing as the story itself.

And I sometimes wonder whether, as authors/poets/bloggers, we are really aware of the effect—intended or not—our words may have on the people who read them.

(If you haven’t read it, and are interested in doing so, an on-line version of the story can be found here.)