Listen to the Owls

You'll understand why I'm breaking my silence! I'm reading the new Shirley Jackson bio recommended by Megan Abbott, even though I read a different Shirley Jackson bio just a few years ago. This one has owls in it! I would never be surprised by the sudden appearance of owls in a book having anything to do with Shirley Jackson. Shirley Jackson says that her publisher has "an owlish aspect" and within a page or two she is comparing herself to an owl as well. Finally, some hundred pages or so later, we get actual owls. "Shirley liked to sit and listen to the owls calling outside," we are informed.