Special Delivery: A Useful Book for Brand-New Mothers in Which Shirley Jackson as Chief Resident Provides a Sane and Sage Approach to the Hilarious and Homey Situations Which Accompany the Advent of Motherhood

by Shirley Jackson (Editor)

Special delivery: a useful book for brand new mothers in which Shirley Jackson as chief resident provides a sane and sage approach to the hilarious and homey situations which accompany the advent of motherhood--aided by a well-tried staff of specialists including Mark Twain [and others] with some practical and not-too-solemn advice and suggestions by Edmund N. Joyner III

Genres: Nonfiction

175 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Shirley Jackson was an influential American author. A popular writer in her time, her work has received increasing attention from literary critics in recent years. She has influenced such writers as Stephen King, Nigel Kneale, and Richard Matheson.

She is best known for her dystopian short story, "The Lottery" (1948), which suggests there is a deeply unsettling underside to bucolic, smalltown America. In her critical biography of Shirley Jackson, Lenemaja Friedman notes that when Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery" was published in the June 28, 1948, issue of The New Yorker, it received a response that "no New Yorker story had ever received." Hundreds of letters poured in that were characterized by, as Jackson put it, "bewilderment, speculation and old-fashioned abuse."

Jackson's husband, the literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman, wrote in his preface to a posthumous anthology of her work that "she consistently refused to be interviewed, to explain or promote her work in any fashion, or to take public stands and be the pundit of the Sunday supplements. She believed that her books would speak for her clearly enough over the years." Hyman insisted the darker aspects of Jackson's works were not, as some critics claimed, the product of "personal, even neurotic, fantasies", but that Jackson intended, as "a sensitive and faithful anatomy of our times, fitting symbols for our distressing world of the concentration camp and the Bomb", to mirror humanity's Cold War-era fears. Jackson may even have taken pleasure in the subversive impact of her work, as revealed by Hyman's statement that she "was always proud that the Union of South Africa banned The Lottery', and she felt that they at least understood the story".

In 1965, Jackson died of heart failure in her sleep, at her home in North Bennington Vermont, at the age of 48.

Reviews

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this through the Internet Archive (it’s impossible to find otherwise) and read only the Shirley Jackson-penned pieces. Jackson was embarrassed by the publisher using her name prominently in the marketing of the book. She had been promised they wouldn’t. (She's not the editor as the Goodreads page states.) The marketing is arguably warranted as she has several entries, only two of which had been previously published. It’s easy to forget how famous and popular she was in the late 50s (this was published in 1960).

Some of the material, though presented humorously, was likely forward-thinking for the time and perhaps dismissed as oh, that Shirley, always joking; but maybe some mothers took her advice to heart, in the same manner they might’ve used Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s very different Gift from the Sea. I related to a paragraph starting, “You can always tell an experienced mother by her lack of wasted motion…” and another with tips on how to treat teenaged babysitters, reminding me of my own babysitting days.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone knows Jackson was brilliant at horror: the everything's fine gradually dissolving into something deeply disturbing. The brilliance of her wit doesn't come up much, or at least, not loudly enough for me to hear it. It's the same trick, really, it just ends earlier. I cackled aloud more than once. It's possible that I answered each enquiring look with saying, again, that Jackson's humor is sadly underappreciated. Her's is the advice a new parent really needs but is unlikely to hear.
The other material here is fine: Mark Twain, some poetry, "Mehitabel and Her Kittens" which is funny in the same way, and some random snippets of stuff that demonstrates how far back 1960 really was: a Zodiac that lists lucky days (?) and colors (?!) with some birthstones that are just rocks in those geologically primitive days before the development of a full set of 12 semi-precious stones . (The Spouse hadn't heard of chrysolith, either, and that's in his half of of the trivia field) Likewise, the practical advice from the medical professionals is just as as unfamiliar (impetigo?)
Is it weird that the humor feels modern and nothing else does?
If it wasn't so hard to lay hands on a copy I'd give this out as a party favor to everyone at all future baby showers.


Interlibrary loan

[John Esse · Rating 2 out of 5]

a look into Jackson's views on motherhood. It will appeal to those interested from a historical or biographical standpoint. But for me, too much of the advice is off-puttingly prescriptivist and gender essentialist.