Charles Jackson was born in 1903 in Summit, New Jersey, into a dysfunctional family. His father abandoned the family when Jackson was 10 years old, and he completed his elementary education in Newark before attending Syracuse University, which he abruptly quit without graduating.
Despite never completing college, Jackson had a passion for literature and worked in various jobs, including bookstores, editing weekly newspapers, and repertory theaters. He was well-versed in William Shakespeare and had a brilliant, if unfocused, mind. However, he also struggled with alcoholism and was tormented by sexual ambivalence.
In 1927, Jackson contracted tuberculosis and spent time recovering in a Pennsylvania sanitarium, where he read Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain" and decided to move to Europe. He spent a year in Switzerland and on the French Riviera, drinking heavily and in poor health.
Upon his return to New York, Jackson obtained work at CBS Radio as a staff writer and eventually married an editor at Fortune Magazine, Rhoda Booth. The years prior to World War II were his most productive, during which he wrote several well-received short stories, including "Palm Sunday" and "Rachel's Summer."
In 1944, Jackson published his most famous novel, "The Lost Weekend," which is essentially a semi-autobiographical account of his own experiences with addiction. The book is a powerful exploration of his own tormented psyche and provides strong hints into events that occurred in his own life.
"The Lost Weekend" met with excellent reviews and became a best-seller, thanks to being chosen as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. The book was later adapted into a film, directed by Billy Wilder and starring Ray Milland, which won four Academy Awards.
Despite the success of his novel and film, Jackson struggled with addiction and personal demons throughout his life. He continued to write sporadically over the next 24 years, publishing his final novel, "A Second Hand Life," in 1967. Sadly, Jackson never escaped the grip of alcoholism and committed suicide in 1968.
