Books › Life among the savages
Life among the savages
First published 1953 · 298 pages
A razor-sharp, deadpan plunge into the beautiful, maddening chaos of mid-century domestic life.
What it feels like
Reading this feels like sitting at a cluttered kitchen table with the smartest, funniest woman you know while a hurricane of children and pets swirls around you. The pace is brisk and episodic, bouncing from one domestic crisis to the next with a deadpan, sardonic wit that completely strips away the mid-century veneer of the perfect housewife. Instead, you get an atmosphere of cozy, absurdist chaos. The prose is deceptively casual but meticulously crafted, turning lost shoes, broken furnaces, and the bizarre logic of toddlers into high comedy. It is a delight for anyone who loves unsentimental, razor-sharp observations about family life, offering a deeply affectionate but entirely unromanticized look at the beautiful madness of raising children.
- Mood
- frantic
- cozy
- absurdist
- domestic
- Tone
- wry
- deadpan
- affectionate
- sardonic
- chaotic
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the chaos of motherhood · domestic absurdity · the strange logic of children · rural eccentricities · marriage dynamics
- The writing
- Razor-sharp and deceptively casual, laced with a deadpan wit that elevates everyday domesticity into high comedy.
- The arc
- A journey through the overwhelming, hilarious chaos of domestic life toward a state of bemused, affectionate surrender.
- Who it's for
- Mothers, writers, and anyone who appreciates a sharp, unsentimental, and deeply funny look at the madness of raising a family.
Content notes
- period-typical parenting
- 1950s gender dynamics
About the book
A hilariously charming memoir of Shirley Jackson and her family's life in rural Vermont: children who won't behave, cars that won't start, furnaces that break down, a pugnacious corner bully, household help that never stays, and a patient, capable husband who remains lovingly oblivious to the many thousands of things mothers and wives accomplish every single day.
Description from Open Library.
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