The Complete Stories

I absolutely love Flannery O’Connor’s short stories; they are like shining gems of literary perfection. She sees through all the meaningless masks and artifices that people put up to mislead and distract, and she describes the motivations at the heart of the conflict. 

No two of her characters are the same, and she brings a clarity of thought and vision like few other authors can. Often, the characters within her short stories make jaw-dropping pronouncements about either themselves or issues of faith or morality. For example, in A Good Man is Hard to Find, the sudden turn of events… show more.

Although Flannery O’Connor can sometimes be dark and violent, her themes are deeply human, often showing the need for Christ’s hand of redemption. In this book, I see, among other things, the mystery of a religious philosophy versus the incarnate presence of God. But her craft is so developed that you never feel you are reading a philosophical debate or a religious sermon.

Georgia-born Flannery O’Connor gifted the world with dozens of stories, which can be read individually or collectively.

Set on farms, in small towns, and off-the-beaten path, she colorfully explores both people and places, inviting readers along to do the same. Some stories are folksy, some are humorous, and some are dark, but one thread is constant: her highly individualized style is built on strong literary conventions.  

Southern Gothic author Flannery O’Connor is an incredible storyteller with characters often described as grotesque and morally flawed. Having been raised in the South, I find her characters so real it is as if I know them or have met them personally.

I know she disliked any of her stories being labeled ‘horror’ and instead called them ‘hard’. But you have to admit that a lot that happens naturally in life is indeed ‘horror’, so I use the term as a high compliment to her. But that alone would be too much, so she tempers it with her sardonic wit… show more.

Flannery O’Connor was one of the best American short-story writers and totally obsessed with God and questions of belief. In her story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” she paints an unforgettable portrait of the Misfit, a murderous criminal tortured and infuriated by religious doubt. Without concrete evidence of God’s existence, the Misfit feels free to go on a killing spree, exacting vengeance on a deity that refuses to reveal itself. In “Revelation,” a self-satisfied believer is confronted with a vision of Heaven that looks nothing like what she’d expected. O’Connor uses shock and Gothic horror to jolt readers… show more.

I turn from a brooding Irish context to a Southern Gothic context, and still the narratives here will rip into everything you hold dear, to the point where you are no longer sure who you are to begin with. This is a good thing, as none of us should be content with who we vainly think we are. 

"'Wait here, wait here!' he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the distance ahead of him. 'Help, help!' he shouted, but his voice was thin, scarcely a thread of sound.… show more.