Multiple Personality in 1950s: Shirley Jackson’s novel “The Bird’s Nest” (1954) preceded Thigpen & Cleckley’s nonfiction “The Three Faces of Eve” (1957).

To put the previous post on Joyce Carol Oates’ comments about Shirley Jackson in historical context: In the 1950s, in the whole world, there was only one real-life case of multiple personality known to the general public, Thigpen & Cleckley’s The Three Faces of Eve, published in 1957.

Shirley Jackson’s The Bird’s Nest, a novel explicitly about a person with multiple personality, was published in 1954. 

1. Wikipedia. The Bird’s Nest (1954 novel by Shirley Jackson) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bird's_Nest_(novel)

2. Thigpen, C.H. & Cleckley, H. (1954) A case of multiple personality. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 49, 135-51. Synopsis: http://www.holah.karoo.net/thigpen.htm

3. Thigpen, Corbett H. & Cleckley, Hervey M. The Three Faces of Eve. New York, McGraw Hill, 1957.

4. Wikipedia. "Lizzie" (1957 film). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_(1957_film)

5. Wikipedia. “The Three Faces of Eve” (1957 film). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Faces_of_Eve