30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 4
Book 25/30
This is one of the best short story collections I’ve ever read. 3.7 stars is the actual number averaging all the stories out, but that’s really high for me and short stories, especially literary ones. And also, I’m rounding up. Specific thoughts on all the stories in my updates, but overall this is a great collection of stories about the ways that arbitrary social rules degrade our humanity.
Brief thoughts on each story below.
[3.70, rounded up]
– – –
“The Intoxicated” — An unsettling story about a drunk guest at a suburban party encountering a precocious seventeen-year old girl who predicts the end of the world while talking about her homework. 3.5 stars
“The Daemon Lover” — A young woman waits for her fiancé on the day of her wedding, but he never shows. She wanders everywhere looking for him, and then it just . . . stops. 4/5 stars
“Like Mother Used to Make” — wt actual f was that?? bitch just stole his whole apartment for no raisin!!!! and he LET HER 4/5 stars
“Trial By Combat” — This one was just sort of sad and sweet. A younger woman in a boarding house knows an older woman is stealing small things from her room, but she doesn’t end up doing anything about it bc she sees a future version of herself in the older woman. 4.5/5 stars
“The Villager” — Shirley Jackson is obsessed with having people’s homes and furniture stand in for their identities. 4/5 stars
“My Life With R.H. Macy” — Jackson writes about a nameless woman working in Macy’s as if it were some kind of dystopian hellscape. Hilarious. 4/5 stars
“The Witch” — what in the?????????? 3/5 stars (??????)
“The Renegade” — A housewife learns her dog has been killing a neighbor’s chickens. This was story was what I would describe as “quietly fucked up.” 4/5 stars
“After You, My Dear Alphonse” — Ah, racism. Holy crap, when was this story written? It’s way ahead of its time. Cute kids. 4/5 stars
“Charles” — I know that little turd is Charles. But this one felt a little unfinished. 3.5/4 stars
“Afternoon in Linen” — Child foils passive aggressive attempts of adults to outdo one another. Absolutely ruins the adults’ day. 4/5 stars
“Flower Garden” — Longest story in the book so far, by quite a bit. A widow and her young son move in to a picturesque cottage, but then she makes the mistake of hiring a black man and treating him like a human being. 5/5 stars
“Dorothy and My Grandmother and the Sailors” — Sailors are public enemy #1. 3/5 stars
“Colloquy” — What. 2/5 stars
“Elizabeth” — Well, that was unpleasant. But mostly it was too long. A day in the life of an unhappy businesswoman in NYC. 3/5 stars
“A Fine Old Firm” — A woman visits another family because their sons are away at war together. This one went over my head. Too subtle for me, I guess.2.5/5 stars
“The Dummy” — Two judgmental old biddies go to dinner and a show but the story is taken over by a woman having a fight with her boyfriend/husband’s ventriloquist’s dummy. 3.5/5 stars
“Seven Types of Ambiguity” — This one hit hard because it takes place in a bookshop! And there’s an asshole who’s decided he wants books to buy bc he has money now, and he effing buys this book this young man clearly loves and is saving up money for, just because he can. I’m all angry now. 4.5/5 stars
“Come Dance With Me in Ireland” — Another one that is a bit too subtle for me, or I’m just extra thick this morning. Three ladies bring in who they believe to be an old starving man and feed him, and they are quite rude to him all while being “nice”. But is he drunk or starving? Honestly, again, a little over my head. 3/5 stars
“Of Course” — New neighbors move in and Mrs. Tylor is polite even as it becomes clear that the husband is a controlling maniac who doesn’t allow his wife and child to do anything. Shirley Jackson must have had it out for some guy named James Harris. 4/5 star
“Pillar of Salt” — Woman sees everything that is happening in NYC as proof the world is ending. She’s on vacation. 3.5/5 stars
“Men With Their Big Shoes” — I’d be like, bitch, spread all the rumors you want, you’re not moving into my house!!! I’m really glad I didn’t live in the 1940s/50s. I don’t know if I would have survived it. 3.5/5 stars
“The Tooth” — ????????? 3/5 stars
“Got a Letter From Jimmy” — Her super short stories are my favorite. They just pack a better punch. This one a wife gets really angry at her husband for refusing to open a letter from a former friend, and obviously it’s not just about the letter. 4/5 stars
“The Lottery” — This story is a banger on its own, but it’s even better after reading twenty-four other stories hammering home the same themes. Here, it’s like the ending is the logical conclusion to what’s been going on the whole book. 5/5 stars