"Everyone else in my family is dead"

WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE

By Shirley Jackson

(1962)

First edition of Jackson's last novel, a gothic mystery narrated by a brilliantly unreliable narrator, about two sisters isolated on their uncle's estate — from the collection of noted poet Paul Monette.

Very good plus in very good jacket.

Price: $1,100.00

WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE

"[I]nsecure, uncontrolled, I wrote of neuroses and fear and I think all my books laid end to end would be one long documentation of anxiety." — Shirley Jackson

Picking up on themes of otherness from throughout Jackson's oeuvre (including "The Lottery"), CASTLE was described by Jackson biographer Judy Oppenheimer as "a paean [...] to agoraphobia" (236). In 2018 it was adapted into a well-received film directed by Stacie Passon, starring Taissa Farmiga, Alexandra Daddario, Crispin Glover, and Sebastian Stan.

This copy from the library of acclaimed poet Paul Monette. An interesting association as Monette wrote his own gothic-influenced novel, THE GOLD DIGGERS, in 1979 (as well as a novelization of Herzog's NOSFERATU for Avon Books that same year). An attractive copy of this horror classic, with relevant provenance.

Read more: Joyce Carol Oates, "Shirley Jackson in Love & Death," The New York Review of Books; Oppenheimer, Private Demons: The Life of Shirley Jackson.

The Object

First printing. New York: The Viking Press, (1962). 8'' x 5.25''. Original quarter cream over burgundy cloth. Red topstain. In original unclipped ($3.95) pictorial dust jacket by Paul Bacon. [10], 214 pages. Bookplate of poet Paul Monette mounted to front free endpaper. Jacket spine moderately sunned. Some rubbing, toning and edgewear with a couple of small closed tears. Top spine a bit faded. Slight lean. Overall, clean and sound.

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