Raising Demons is the sequel to Life Among the Savages, which I read last year. Both are memoirs of Shirley Jackson’s experiences as a mother to four boisterous and rowdy children. In this book the kids are a bit older, but other than that, it’s a lot like the first. It’s a series of vignettes, each with some form of hilarity to it.
What I liked most about this book is that Jackson seems to know the things in her life and herself that are ridiculous, and rather than seeking to changing them, she just rolls with them and makes a funny anecdote out of the whole thing. Her sense of humour is wry and self-deprecating. I really wish I could befriend her. I could use a mom friend like her on my block, someone I could call when I had a bad day to come over and share some comic relief over several cocktails. Based on this book, I think maybe she could have used a friend like that too.
Though this book is undoubtedly hilarious, there are also some hints of unhappiness lurking under the surface. She doesn’t talk about her husband much, but when she does it’s to paint a picture of a man who does nothing around the house, expects her to take care of everything for him, doesn’t have any respect for the work she does to keep his home and kids in order and doesn’t really seem to even notice her except to whine. This sucks for any stay at home mom, but for a woman as intelligent and interesting as Shirley Jackson, it must have been infuriating. I pretty much wanted to smack him every time he made a cameo. There’s also a fair amount of self-criticism. I got the sense she felt like she never had her life under control, and that all the other moms had tidier homes, cleaner children, were better housekeepers and more involved with the community. I think most moms feel that way, even (or especially) today.
I really enjoyed this book. It was easy to read, and I liked that she formats it as a selection of separate stories, which made it easy to dip in and out of. I highly recommend reading this duo of memoirs, particularly if you have an interest in family life or what it was like to raise one in the 1950s. Jackson comes to life on the page, and by the end you will feel like you know her intimately, and like her even more.
In the long out-of-print sequel to Life Among the Savages, Jackson’s four children have grown from savages into full-fledged demons. After bursting the seams of their first house, Jackson’s clan moves into a larger home. Of course, the chaos simply moves with them. A confrontation with the IRS, Little League, trumpet lessons, and enough clutter to bury her alive—Jackson spins them all into an indelible reminder that every bit as thrilling as a murderous family in a haunted house is a happy family in a new home. – Goodreads
Book Title: Raising Demons
Author: Shirley Jackson
Series: Jacksons #2
Edition: Paperback
Published By: Penguin Books
Released: May 5, 2015 (first published 1957)
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Humour, Family, Motherhood
Pages: 320
Date Read: October 21-27, 2019
Rating: 9/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.17/5 (5,535 ratings)