For unknown reasons, that I've never pretended to understand, I've always been very fortunate to have many loyal female readers. That's been the case ever since the beginning of my professional career, over twenty years ago, and it's a distinction I happily continue to enjoy today. Upon average, seven out of ten fans who approach me at conventions to sign books are women or girls. Again, I'm not sure why, but it's true.
Recently, a close friend of mine, who is also a writer, asked me a very interesting and somewhat troubling question.
"Why," she asked, "don't more men read women authors? I mean, we read you. Why don't you read us?"
I pondered that for a moment before answering, and admitted she was right. Many of my gender, myself sometimes included, have shamefully neglected a vast expanse of fantastic fiction for no real particular reason.
In truth, there are several female authors to whom I owe a great literary debt. For example, where would I be without Mary Shelley?
Frankenstein, both the movies and her classic novel, will always be highly influential to me. Then there is Ruth Rose, who wrote the original screenplay of
King Kong, my favorite movie of all time. I could never forget Harper Lee, author of
To Kill a Mockingbird, arguably
the perfect American novel. More recently, the poetic imaginings in Jenny Dalton's
Daughters of the Dead Sea left an indelible mystical mark that echoed long after the last page was turned.
Then, there is Shirley Jackson.
Shirley left behind a wealth of some of the most disturbing, hilarious, and imaginative fiction of the 20th century. During her life she was something of an enigma, consistently refusing to be interviewed, to explain or promote her work, or to take public stands on any political issues. Ironically, considering my friend's original question, Shirley Jackson hated being called a "woman author". She simply wanted to be known as a writer, and she believed that her books would speak for her clearly enough. Over the years, indeed, they have.
A popular writer in her own brief lifetime, Shirley's fiction has received growing attention from literary critics in recent years. Authors Stephen King, Richard Matheson, and Neil Gaiman have all gratefully admitted her influence on their own popular books.
Shirley Jackson's best known and most celebrated works are
The Haunting of Hill House, a chilling contemporary novel of the classic ghost story (and it gives M.R. James a run for his money), and "The Lottery", which I believe is the most flawless, and ultimately terrifying, short story ever written. But, there is a lot more to this darkly brilliant visionary than merely two items. Seek them out, they are fabulous.
If you have never read Shirley Jackson, I'm delighted to get you started with her vividly powerful opening paragraph from
The Haunting of Hill House:
No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.
