The Lottery - Shirley Jackson - NBC University Theater

"The Lottery" is a short story written by Shirley Jackson, first published in the June 26, 1948 issue of The New Yorker. It has been described as "one of the most famous short stories in the history of American literature".

The story describes a fictional small town in contemporary America, which observes an annual rite known as "the lottery", in which a member of the community is selected by chance to be stoned. It is implied in the story that the lottery is practiced to ensure the community's continued well being.

Readers' initial negative response surprised both Jackson and The New Yorker: subscriptions were cancelled, and much hate mail was received throughout the summer of its first publication.[3] The Union of South Africa banned the story.[4][page needed]

The story has been dramatized several times and subjected to much sociological and literary analysis.

NBC University Theater (also known as NBC University Theater of the Air, NBC Theater of the Air or NBC Theater) was a brand the National Broadcasting Co. applied to a category of radio programming. Although not actually a university, some colleges and universities collaborated in some of the programming, either contributing to its content or including the programming in their curriculum. NBC University Theater's most well-known radio series was The World's Great Novels. NBC used the name "University Theater" or similar from about 1923-1947. (Wikipedia)