Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery": The Authorized Graphic Adaptation

by Miles Hyman

Overview

The classic short story--now in full color

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" continues to thrill and unsettle readers nearly seven decades after it was first published. By turns puzzling and harrowing, it raises troubling questions about conformity, tradition, and the specter of ritualized violence that haunts even the most bucolic, peaceful village. This graphic adaptation, published in time for Jackson's centennial, allows readers to experience "The Lottery" as never before, or discover it anew. The visual artist--and Jackson's grandson--Miles Hyman has crafted an eerie vision of the hamlet where the tale unfolds, its inhabitants, and the unforgettable ritual they set into motion. His four-color, meticulously detailed panels create a noirish atmosphere that adds a new dimension of dread to the original tale. Perfectly timed to the current resurgence of interest in Jackson and her work, Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery": A Graphic Adaptation masterfully reimagines her iconic story with a striking visual narrative.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780809066506
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	10/25/2016
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Miles Hyman is an artist who specializes in graphic novels and adaptations of classic literature. His work has been shown in galleries around the world and has appeared in publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, and GQ. He is the grandson of Shirley Jackson. He lives in Paris.

Editorial Reviews

★ 2016-07-31
A stunning graphic adaptation of a chilling classic.Hyman, grandson of Shirley Jackson, original author of “The Lottery,” offers his interpretation of her iconic story. In it, townspeople gather to partake in a disturbing tradition—the origins of and reasons for which we are not told. There is mention of bigger towns, where the lottery takes two days, and talk of other, radical towns where the lottery has been eliminated altogether. To follow their lead would mean regressing to living in caves and “eating stewed chickweed and acorns.” Each head of family must draw from an heirloom box a slip of paper. He who draws the slip with the black, circular mark is chosen; his family must draw again. The member of his family who draws the marked slip will be stoned, presumably to death, by the rest of the town, including the remaining family members. Hyman’s illustrations are powerful: rich and evocative graphic realism, softly colored, marrying Rockwell-ian and American Gothic style. The tone, at first, is both ominous and mundane. As the townspeople gather in the June sun, they banter with familiar ease—“Wouldn’t have me leave m’dishes in the sink, now, would you, Joe?”—but beneath the banal, the mood is decidedly baleful. When the black spot is drawn, the mood, along with the color scheme, shifts dramatically: both are immediately drained of the bucolic and sonorous. The rest of the story is starkly depicted in black, white, and harvest orange. The most unnerving illustration depicts a small boy taking up a fistful of child-sized rocks to aim at his pleading mother.A haunting story of humanity’s herd mentality, brilliantly rendered.

Kirkus Reviews

55 Books to Read This Fall, Entertainment Weekly

The Books of Fall: Thirteen Intriguing New Titles, Houston Chronicle

"Nearly seventy years after the first publication of 'The Lottery,' Jackson’s grandson Miles Hyman has created a 'graphic adaptation' in dreamlike slow motion . . . Hyman’s most inspired, or audacious, idea is to provide background for the action of June 27 in a prequel dramatizing the evening of June 26 when the grim-faced town elders responsible for the lottery meet to prepare ballots for the drawing, and a tenderly erotic visualization of Tessie Hutchinson on the morning of her death, disrobing, gazing at herself in a mirror, and bathing—for the final time. In an astonishing act of sympathy, Hyman presents Tessie Hutchinson as intensely female; it is perhaps only when the victim-to-be is naked and alone that she acquires a singular identity, if only to surrender it soon. The final illustration depicts the town without any people at all—not a scene in Jackson’s story, but hauntingly effective here." —Joyce Carol Oates, The New York Review of Books

"Shirley Jackson's dreadful small-town tale comes alive in the hands of her grandson, Miles Hyman." —Entertainment Weekly

"The author’s grandson, Miles Hyman, has added his own take to her unsettling tale about conformity and violence in small-town America: a graphic novel, illustrated in lush, noirish detail." —Anna Russell, The Wall Street Journal

"Gorgeous . . . Hyman translates his grandmother’s famously spare, unyielding prose into an implacably ominous visual journey through one day in a small town with a dark secret." —Claire Fallon, The Huffington Post

"A lusciously visual presentation of his grandmother’s chilling story." —Jan Gardner, The Boston Globe

"A beautiful book . . . in the way that [it] stays faithful to Jackson’s story, and also in the subtle interweaving of new meanings, Hyman’s graphic adaptation is an exceptional work of art." —Dawn Keetley, PopMatters

"One of the strongest graphic adaptations of a classic work to come along in some time." —Summer Hayes, Booklist

"[Hyman uses] his illustrations to push a little further than his grandmother's words did . . . in Hyman's hands, Jackson's story flabbergasts all over again." —Alyson Ward, Houston Chronicle

"This authorized adaptation by Miles Hyman is a handsome version that turns Jackson’s setting and characters into real places and people through exquisite [artwork]. His vision of the people and the settings is spot on perfect, adding to the horror of the story." —Michael Sangiacomo, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

"[A] beautiful graphic novel adaptation of the classic, chilling story." —Mike Donachie, Waterloo Region Record

"A stunning graphic adaptation of a chilling classic . . . Hyman’s illustrations are powerful: rich and evocative graphic realism, softly colored, marrying Rockwell-ian and American Gothic style . . . A haunting story of humanity’s herd mentality, brilliantly rendered." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Imbues realistic characters with a blocky stoicism in full-color panels flooded with sun-parched orange light . . . [A] standout work." —Martha Cornog, Library Journal (starred review)

"Kids who hate reading and adults who dare to make movies in their heads will find this book haunting, terrifying, gorgeous—and unforgettable." —Jesse Kornbluth, HeadButler.com

"Hyman’s style is suitably old-fashioned, with plenty of shadows throughout, lending a spooky, overcast feeling to the down-home community . . . [and] adding up to a creeping feeling of dread. It’s the horror of the mundane, of what seemingly normal people will do without questioning." —Comics Worth Reading

"This adaptation just may bring a new generation of readers to Jackson’s unnerving work, and we think that’s worth celebrating." —Elizabeth Rowe, Bookish

"Hyman’s eloquent foreword, which will be reason alone for Jackson devotees to buy this book, reflects on his brief relationship with grandma Shirley [Jackson] . . . Hyman’s take on 'The Lottery' is . . . a project validated by its quality and attention to those fine details you might have missed within the original prose, or perhaps interpreted otherwise. Hyman’s opening and closing shots, which reveal the idyllic town at dawn on the morning of the titular lottery and with serenity restored by the following dusk, are simply masterful." —Carl Doherty, Shelf Abuse

"Miles Hyman’s stunning adaptation of ‘The Lottery’ has all the understated menace of the original, and may be even more disquieting." —Ruth Franklin, author of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life

"Miles Hyman’s hypnotic retelling of 'The Lottery' provides readers with an unsettling truth: the shocking often feasts on a diet of the mundane. With each panel, the sheer ordinariness gathers in a claustrophobic and terrifying way, and the art accretes a grotesque richness." —Jeff VanderMeer, bestselling author of the Southern Reach trilogy and winner of the Shirley Jackson Award

From the Publisher

★ 09/15/2016
A well-known short story often assigned in literature classes, Jackson's "The Lottery" slowly unveils the grim details of a yearly ritual in a small community in rural America. The ritual's origins are forgotten, and other towns have given it up, but these villagers keep the tradition out of habit, superstitious expectations for a better harvest, and paradoxical benefits of group cohesion despite a deadly outcome. How much cruelty, asks Jackson rhetorically, do we cause out of habit or peer pressure? The Salem witch hunts, pogroms, "queer-bashing," and Internet bullying all have commonalities with this odd lottery that seems to draw more from ancient practices than from the modern world. Hyman (The Black Dahlia), Jackson's grandson, imbues realistic characters with a blocky stoicism in full-color panels flooded with sun-parched orange light. Much of the rendition is wordless, the art carrying this tale of quiet horror. VERDICT This standout work featuring a violent and inhumane tradition within a mundane setting will get readers thinking about causes and effects of our actions. For general readers as well as educators and librarians working with teens and adults alike.—MC

Library Journal

12/01/2016
Gr 9 Up—Jackson's famous short story has been adapted into graphic novel format by her grandson. Hyman illustrates in lush detail the terrifying ritual known as the lottery. The artist includes a compelling foreword about the intimidating prospect of creating this work. Readers familiar with the original short story will not leave petrified, but they will enjoy exploring this offering. This adaptation is enhanced by the quality of illustrations. Hyman will have readers curious to explore nuances such as the imagined ritual origins or the town people's absolute trust in the lottery. The visual country atmosphere and realistic portraits are slightly reminiscent of Norman Rockwell's paintings. While this is definitely a great tribute to Hyman's late grandmother, it may not have the same impact as the original. VERDICT For fans of Shirley Jackson as well as newcomers planning to read alongside the prose tale.—Jessica Bratt, Grand Rapids Public Library, MI

School Library Journal