A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories

Written by Flannery O'Connor

Narrated by Marguerite Gavin

This now classic book revealed Flannery O’Connor as one of the most original and provocative writers to emerge from the South. Her apocalyptic vision of life is expressed through grotesque, often comic situations in which the principal character faces a problem of salvation: the grandmother, in the title story, confronting the murderous Misfit; a neglected four-year-old boy looking for the Kingdom of Christ in the fast-flowing waters of the river; General Sash, about to meet the final enemy.

Stories included are “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, “The River”, “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”, “A Stroke of Good Fortune”, “A Temple of the Holy Ghost”, “The Artificial Nigger”, “A Circle in the Fire”, “A Late Encounter with the Enemy”, “Good Country People” and “The Displaced Person”.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: Nov 22, 2010
• ISBN: 9781441769107

Flannery O'Connor

Flannery O’Connor was an American novelist and short-story writer, who over the course of her short career produced two novels and more than thirty short stories, including the critically acclaimed Wise Blood, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” and “Everything that Rises Must Converge.” Set primarily in the rural South, O’Connor’s Southern Gothic stories, strongly influenced by her Catholic faith, often portrayed the spiritual transformation—often violent, always painful—of a flawed individual. In 1972, she was posthumously awarded a National Book Award for Collected Stories, and was the first twentieth-century fiction writer to be collected and published by the Library of America. The Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, given annually by the University of Georgia Press, was named in her honour. O’Connor died in 1964 of complication from lupus.

Reviews for A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories

[bookmarque · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is my first experience with O'Connor and I’m afraid it will be my last. It’s not the writing, which is clear and descriptive. It’s the subject matter. The south of this period is not an attractive one and her stories reflect that. Intense religiousness has bred its inevitable offspring; hatred, bigotry, pride, ignorance, backwardness and violence. These stories are full of people I hated and couldn’t understand at all. Maybe it’s because I’m a northerner born in the late 20th century, but it just made me embarrassed that the US has a culture like this and instead of leaving it behind, we glorify it and hold it out to be charming and colorful. I’m glad this is as close to it as I’m likely to get. Even with my jaundiced world view, I could find nothing charming or illuminating in these stories.

[pnorman4345 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a collection of short stories about the Jim Crow South. Often the strories narrate the growth of fictions created by insecure, ignorant, and powerless poor white people. And the consequences, horrible consequences, of those ideas and feelings.

[blanderson-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Hit or miss. I think O'Connor is incredibly overrated, really, in modern american letters.

All of her stories go as follows:
1)introduced to a character that seems Good but we know probably isn't
2)set up some cheeky moral conundrum that is a pretty heavy-metaphor for morality
3)include a clumsy discussion of theology to drive home the story's qualities of parable
4)reveal that the characters are in fact Bad by showing their misguided journey towards Good
5)if at all possible, end with a cutesy Grad School ending that ties the whole thing together thematically

Furthermore, most of the lead characters were identical (driven, spiritually challenged women trying to make it in the world) with nearly identical voices and fears. This is nowhere more evident than Good Country People, Circle in the Fire, and Displaced Person, all of which feature almost identical leading characters and situations.

Still, there are a few great stories here: A Good Man Is Hard To Find, The Artificial Nigger, The Life You Save May Be Your Own, etc

[starbox_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazingly written and utterly original Southern Gothic short stories. They're simultaneously utterly dark, full of unsympathetic people in dire situations, and yet full of funny and brilliantly observed little comments - the cantankerous centenarian who "would not wear teeth because he thought his profile was more striking without them";the seemingly gormless youth selling Bibles door-to-door who finally gets a woman in the hayloft; opening his valise "there were only two Bibles in it. He took one of these and opened the cover of it. It was hollow and contained a pocket flask of whiskey, a pack of cards and a small blue box with printing on it...He put the blue box in her hand. THIS PRODUCT ONLY TO BE USED FOR THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE, she read and dropped it."Intriguing scenarios abound...a family on a roadtrip encounter a serial killer; a child from a bad home goes to the river to re-live the healing that a neighbour took him to see; an old woman tries to marry off her retarded daughter to a drifter; a young wife with a horror of doctors discovers she is pregnant.Utterly engrossing and very very strange.

[kwohlrob-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This collection was an epiphany for me. As a writer, it changed my style completely. O'Connor became my godmother. Her stories are so perfectly crafted: the prose is sparse, yet carries so much weight in each sentence; the dialogue is minimal, but everything the characters say has importance; and most of all, the stories themselves are engrossing -- they are simple in their construction and told with an ease that belies the expert craftsmanship. This collection is required reading for anyone who wants to even think about writing a short story, let alone craft one of merit.

[chrisblocker · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Short story collections are always a little tricky. I've read some good collections with many great stories that took my breath away, but not without having to muddle through other stories that barely kept my attention. I thought turning to one of the masters of the short form might help (and perhaps it still will), but O'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard to Find was not the exception I was looking for.O'Connor was assuredly a wonderful writer, particularly skilled at short stories. Her exploration of humanity has the capacity to punch the reader in the stomach. It's wonderful and done so well, but the reader does come to expect it—how trepid it make the reader to know the rug may be pulled from underneath them at any moment. These stories have great economy and breath, perhaps the perfect mix of the two. They're simple, yet multi-layered. In terms of craft, they are really wonderful stories. But the best of these stories—the ones I felt really made me sit up and pay attention—were the ones most often anthologized. The rest were good—very good—but felt more like imitations of “Good Country People” and “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” than stories that could stand on their own. It may only be the fault of comparison that makes these stories less amazing; nevertheless, they did not have the same effect on me. That and the fact that days later I can no longer remember what certain stories were about leave me a little disappointed.I admit I was shocked by the rampant racism of the collection. I'm all for authors speaking in whatever voice they choose to use and do not judge the collection on this matter, but it left me uncomfortable. I felt dirty, angry knowing there were people out there like this? Was O'Connor herself such a bigot? Evidence seems to say she was, though most of this was probably just the cultural expectation of the time—not that that should ever be an excuse for an intelligent person. Still, I think it is only fair to warn those readers sensitive about such issues that this is probably an author they'll want to skip.

[stillatim · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What to say? I doubt anyone's going to knock this one off its "modern classic" perch, so there isn't much point defending it. O'Connor's the master of the ambiguous, laugh out loud statement in the midst of the utterly bleak; and the master of good people thinking that bad people are good and bad people thinking that good people are bad. And everyone cops it in the end. That said, reading it cover to cover doesn't do much to improve my opinion of her prose. Not that it's 'bad,' but I'm concerned that too many people now write in this style: sentence. Without connection to the following sentence. Without connection to the following sentence. Paragraph. It's effective in small doses, but sometimes I yearn for logic and flow, clauses perhaps, maybe even a sub-clause.

[ariahfine-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was my first Flannery O'Connor reading. I did like it, I thought it was good writing and rather engaging. But it took a bit of getting used to. It's a collection of short stories.
The first one had quite a surprise ending in my mind, but then the same sort of twist seemed to come at the end of each of the short stories to where it got rather expected and repetitive.
I'm definitely going to read another of her books as I want to read a full novel and I've heard enough great things about her writing from others that I'm going to give it another shot. Definitely darker writing, which I'm not opposed to, but was just surprised by the similar thread in all the stories.

[selfcallednowhere · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was reallyyyyyyyy fucked up, by which I mean that every single story was some degree of horrifying/disturbing, but it was in a way that was extremely compelling. This was the first time I'd read anything by O'Connor and I was really impressed by her skill in that "I want to emulate certain elements of this writer's work in my own work" way--I thought her powers of description were particularly impressive. Fair warning, there's definitely a hell of a lot of racism in this book which some readers might be put off by, but I thought it was usually done in a way that the racists were actually the ones who were made to look bad.

[justagirlwithabook · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I had to read this one when I was in undergrad for a lit class that looked at the history of publishing (which in itself was very interesting). The history of this series of stories is more interesting than this book itself, in my opinion. More of a perspective of the times but not a book I'd recommend for pleasure reading.

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read the first short story in this collection by Flannery O'Connor and sat back, astonished. If you haven't read A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories, grab a copy right now and read the title story. You'll know then exactly where you stand with O'Connor's stories after that first one has slammed into you like a hammer to the back of the head.In A Good Man is Hard to Find, a family prepares for and sets off for a vacation in Florida. Even Grandma, who has much to say about how much better it would be to visit family in east Tennessee and how the trip might be dangerous, what with escaped felons and other perils, comes along to narrate the ride. And off they go, stopping at bbq joints for lunch and staring at the sights outside the car windows. It begins as one sort of story and ends as quite another and it's one of the most brilliant things I've ever read. Each story is finely honed and reads as surprisingly contemporary, for all it's written about a rural South that is long gone. O'Connor is insightful and cutting and unafraid to allow the worst to happen. There is a dark comedy underlying her work and a deep understanding of people, albeit a somewhat grim one. People in this collection die. They're drowned, or shot, or simple run over. They look into someone else's eyes and see how badly they've misjudged things. They are callous and cruel and lonely and disillusioned. Their hopes are inevitably dashed, usually because of their own flaws. There's so much packed into each of these tightly written stories that each feels like an entire world.

[smichaelwilson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A Good Man is Hard to Find is the first short story collection by Flannery O’Conner. O’Conner became known for her literary contribution to the Southern Gothic genre, and her unusual brand of Christian allegory that incorporated a predominance of “grotesque” characters. A major theme throughout the majority of the works in this collection focus on redemption and the achievement of religious or spiritual “grace” through hardship and violence. The majority of O’Conner’s characters are portrayed as both morally and physically ugly, and very few – if any – are shown in a positive light. This is especially true of women and children, who tend to fare the worst in O’Conner’s fiction. O’Conner does not typically provide characters for the reader to empathize with or “root for,” as her main focus is illustrating the spiritual failings of individuals (and sometimes society as a whole) through the open display of these severe character flaws, often personifying them externally as physical defects (ugliness) or abnormalities (missing limbs).The collection gets its name from the first short story, and it is easy to see why it was chosen to represent (in name) this body of work. A Good Man is Hard to Find is easily one of the collection’s strongest works, following a grandmother and her family’s run-in with an escaped convict self-dubbed The Misfit. The brutality of the story’s gradual conclusion is emotionally jarring (despite its understated delivery) and threatens to stay with the reader permanently. Other stories in the collection that match the intensity and/or excellence of this piece include The River, about a neglected child’s encounter with religion, as well as The Life You Save May Be Your Own and Good Country People, both of which feature missing limbs, traveling con artists, the potential of redemption. Good Country People also includes the fall of a self-proclaimed intellectual, another of O’Conner’s favorite targets.The weakest work of the collection is easily A Temple of the Holy Ghost, which – much like the title itself – abandons O’Conner’s normal allegorical subtext early on and instead launches into bald-faced proselytizing, eschewing the more calculated symbolism and metaphor for which O’Conner is well more known. The Artificial Nigger is almost guilty of the same, as the narrator goes to great lengths to explain the spiritual transformation of the characters at the end, but overall it isn’t enough to ruin the story of a Grandfather and Grandson’s eventful trip into “the city.”A stroke of Good Fortune, A Circle in the Fire, and A Late Encounter with the Enemy, while not at the best of the bunch, are still solid entries that easily display O’Conner’s literary talents, and support her ongoing theme of grotesque characters, while exploring subject matter slightly removed from spiritual grace, including the arrogance of the individual’s perceived control over body (A Stroke of Good Fortune), personal history (A Late Encounter with the Enemy),, nature, and even other people (A Circle in the Fire). Personally, the piece in O’Conner’s collection that I struggled the most with is The Displaced Person. It is an impressive short story in three parts that tackles a multitude of subjects, among them racism, xenophobia, morality, patriotism, control, pride, sloth, and yes, redemption. The story follows a widowed farm owner who takes in an immigrant family from Poland as a working tenant at the bequest of a local priest. All of O’Connor’s trademark elements are present, with all of the major characters driven by character flaws that prevent them from seeing the hypocrisy or illogic in their decision making and world view. However, O’Conner’s handling of the immigrant farm hand, Mr. Guizac, is enough of a departure from O’Conner’s norm to - at the very least – raise some questions. Throughout the other works in this collection, there are rarely any true “innocents” on hand, and even those few characters that could be perceived as innocent, such as young Harry Ashfield in The River, still display character flaws as well as a need or desire for redemption. Mr. Gulzac, however, is never demonstrated to have any outward corruption or deficiencies. Any “flaws” ascribed to Mr. Gulzac are done so through the biased filters of the other characters, and are obviously done so erroneously out of xenophobia, jealousy, fear, or false morality. This is at least partly due to the fact that, unlike the vast majority of major characters in O’Conner’s stories, the narrator never describes any of Mr. Gulzac’s actions from his point of view. Practically all other characters are given at least a brief POV by the narrator, or at the very least have some personal backstory presented as context, but Mr. Gulzac’s own perspective is never truly presented by the narrator. Whenever we see Mr. Gulzac, it is through the eyes of another character, or through the straight-forward impersonal descriptions of the narrator. It is almost as if O’Connor (intentionally or otherwise) makes the geographically displaced Mr. Gulzac a displaced entity in the story, somehow not even belonging in the narrative itself. This emotional distance from the reader mirrors the distance that separates him from other characters, but without the warped prism of bias and prejudice that O’Conner’s other characters exhibit, this distance lends Mr. Gulzac a perception of innocence by omission; other characters reveal their flawed logic and morality through the narrator, but all we are shown of Mr. Gulzac is the hard work and competency that draws the ire and envy of others. This distance from Mr. Gulzac in the story highlights my other problem with The Displaced Person, the story’s ending. O’Conner’s other stories tend to end after the climactic or transformative action occurs, with the redemption or ultimate results left open and undetermined (The River might be the only other exception to this, depending on your own interpretation). The Displaced Person, however, takes the reader beyond the tragic climax of the ending and offers an uncharacteristic denouement that delivers a level of closure. It almost feels as if O’Connor feels compelled to offer up some semblance of justice – a rarity in the O’Connor universe – for the treatment of that rarest of all O’Connor character, the innocent.Of course, these are not major faults in The Displaced Man as they are perceived variations of the collected works, and with the possible exception of A Temple of the Holy Ghost, every story in this collection is powerful enough to stand on its own. If you are unfamiliar with the Southern Gothic genre, this collection of stories is an excellent place to start.

[theloopylibrarian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

With authentic southern dialect, O’Connor manages to shock the reader in a way so matter of fact that the effect is stunning. Good and evil, religious themes, and the dark side of humanity are explored and exposed, but not without a healthy dose of dry humor. Readers will appreciate her excellent use of imagery, metaphor, and personification, all of which magically convey character, tone, and theme in a few short pages. I believe O’Connor is the foremost example of a short fiction writer, particularly of southern writers. She’s a master of the form. Highly recommended!

[jerry2book-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Southern writer who specialized in grotesque characters to illuminate the human condition. I read this as part of our Osher reading group. Her stories are also full of religious symbolism which add a deeper layer of meaning. They also appear to be partly autobiographical. Like Hemingway, she was a better short story writer than a novelist. In this collection of short stories I especially liked the "Artificial Nigger", "Good Country People", and "A Good Man is Hard to Find."

[rbeffa_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very unusual group of ten stories from the rural southern United States which seem to be set in the 1940's. This is universally dark stuff, probably what people call southern gothic, but it is borderline horror stories in some of it. Certainly dark tales where almost all the characters are completely unlikable and most are mean. I'm very glad to have read it but it isn't the sort of stuff I want to read in other than small doses. Perverse morality plays, some of it. These stories drip with the prejudices of their characters. O'Connor loves twisted endings, so after a few of these I was wondering what the twisty thing was going to turn out to be. I wasn't a good guesser even when I was half right.The ten stories are:"A Good Man Is Hard to Find""The River""The Life You Save May Be Your Own""A Stroke of Good Fortune""A Temple of the Holy Ghost""The Artificial Nigger""A Circle in the Fire""A Late Encounter with the Enemy""Good Country People""The Displaced Person"The story that will probably never unstick itself from my memory is the title story, "A Good Man Is Hard To Find." When the character you appreciate most in a story is a completely cold-blooded killer you know something is twisted! Actually, quite a few things will probably stick in my memory. "Good Country People" is one of those extra twisted ending stories. O'Connor leads us along by the nose so we and the characters expect certain things to happen, but the twisted O'Connor is just playing the reader.

[klburnside · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book more than I thought I would. The stories were all very dark and odd, but I liked the fact that every story was surprising and original, and I never knew what was coming. I was supposed to read this book for a college class, but I only read a few of the stories then. Thankfully I held onto the book, because it fulfilled three categories for the reading challenge: a book I own but haven't read, a book I started but never finished, and a book I was supposed to read in school but didn't.

[terris-7 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting. I'm glad to have read it to know about Flannery O'Connor's writing style, but not my favorite.

[unkletom_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The New York Times, in a review of O'Connor's stories, referred to her as an American Guy de Maupassant. This is an apt description. O'Connor's stories paint a dark yet spot-on picture of the human condition. She takes the quaint out of southern living and shines a spotlight on the ignorance and prejudice with a razor-sharp and truly wicked sense of humor. Reading her stories left me amazed by her literary ability yet also a bit nauseated. What depresses me the most is that current events seem to bear out O'Connor's less than flattering assessment of human nature. Nothing else can explain Donald Trump's success in the polls.

[carmenmilligan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was nice to read short stories again. The stories in this collection went from very entertaining to head-scratching-what-did-that-mean reaction. I would like to read some of the dreams of O'Connor; I'll bet they were a hoot, too!

[nittnut · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

How does O' Connor create a character that the reader can know completely in just a few pages? Her sense of place is flawless and the stories are darkly humorous and bitingly critical of human nature. Her sense of timing was perfect, occasionally startling a laugh out of me, even in the bleakest moment of a story. "Good Country People" is a great example of O'Connor's dark humor taking advantage of one of her characters in a vulnerable moment. I was also occasionally baffled, but all of it together made a great read. I will try [Wise Blood] next.

[narshkite · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Flannery O'Connor did not think too highly of people, of that there can be little doubt. So much for God's creation. I am one of those people who somehow never read Flannery O'Connor's work other than the title essay of this collection, which I read for a class in college back in the dark ages. I can't recall with I thought then, as a teenager from the North with limited life experience. I can say that now, as a long time resident of Georgia, that 60+ years after they were written her characterizations of Southerners, particularly women, are sharply detailed, incisive, largely ugly, and sadly true. As writing qua writing, the development of these characters in the space of a short story is mind-boggling. It is hard to think of many novels I have read, even those the thickness of a phone book, that have characters I know so well after one reading. And the character development does not come at the cost of narrative or atmosphere. These stories set the scene of Georgia in the 50's as well as Great Expectations describes Victorian England. The writing is so good, we learn far more about this place in that time from the fictional account than we ever could from a history book. I am mad at myself for going so long before reading more of O'Connor's work and grateful to my son's 10th grade teacher for assigning this and thereby reminding me that I always intended to read these stories. It has been a long time since I have read something I considered important, but this collection earned that designation.

[fuzzy_patters · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As with most short story collections, I thought this one was hit and miss. However, I thought that the hits were higher than in most and the lows weren't as low. Highlights for me were "A Good Man Is Hard To Find," "The River," "The Artificial Nigger," "The Life You Save May Be Your Own," and "The Displaced Person." Each story features moral conundrums and dark tragedy, and each features some sort of redemption.

[nmele_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read these stories the first time in high school--it was required reading. I remember the title story and two others very clearly after more than 40 years, which says something about O'Connor's writing. all of the stories are beautiful constructed and written. Wish I could call her view of humankind "beautiful" but it is not. THAT I had not remembered.

[bookishjojo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Human beings are dark and twisty.Just ask Flannery.

[kgib_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well that was dark. A good companion to Shirley Jackson.

[evanroskos_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wicked and weird. If you have some kind of religious handup, then this collection might either annoy or fascinate you. Basically, O'Connor loves to write about selfish people. And selfish people tend to get punished, but the part that makes this all work is O'Connor's DARK sense of humor. Check out the title story if you're unsure, then delight in other stories.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

O’Connor is often called the master of the short story and that moniker is well-earned. As I read this collection I recognized many of the stories. I’d read them as part of other collections, but they were just as powerful the second time around. They are vivid and eerie with just a tinge of moral lessons sprinkled in. I tend to avoid short stories because they never seem to stick with me. Usually I can read a dozen of them and forget them by the next day, but this book was different. O’Connor’s stories are drenched in a thick southern mood and filled with morose characters who are disenchanted with life. She writes achingly realistic portrayals of men and women from all walks of life; bitter elderly grandparents, a wandering tramp roped into settling down, a neglected boy, a crippled young woman, a Confederate general, etc. One story is a poignant reminder that racism is something you learn, not something you are born with. Those horrible prejudices are something we acquire as we watch other’s actions. Another introduces us to a Bible salesman who isn’t all that he appears to be. Yet another tells the story of a family on a road trip and the strange men who cross their path with devastating consequences. In each one O’Connor captures the dark underbelly of human nature, whether it’s malice, racism, neglect, etc. BOTTOM LINE: Even if you don’t love short stories, give this one a chance! These small portraits of Southern life pack a powerful punch for their size. “He didn’t have any use for history because he never expected to meet it again.”“Well, it takes all kinds of people to make the world go ‘round. It’s very good we aren’t all alike.”  

[paulcranswick · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This landmark collection by Flannery O'Connor trawls through in ten parts man's basic inhumanity to man. Prejudice, ignorance and base dastardly behaviour permeate every scene and story. The landscapes are the american deep south where the corollary is that money breeds contempt, white trash are poor and the "niggers" are barely human. She shows this up clearly and unforgivingly in her stories but the words grate upon modern sensibilities nonetheless.Not all the stories are as successful as others : I would have happily edited out "A Temple of the Holy Ghost" for example, but when she strikes pay dirt is well and truly realised.In "The Artificial Nigger" a grandfather and his grandson are visiting the big city and the grandfather is irritated by the glibness of the young man's responses always seemingly having an answer. They strike on the subject of race and the young man is adamant they he has indeed come across many black people before. Then on the train into town:A huge coffee-colored man was coming slowly forward............Mr. Head's grip on Nelson's arm loosened: "What was that?," he asked. "A man," the boy said........."That was a nigger," Mr. Head said and sat back.....The boy slid down into the seat. "You said they were black," he said in an angry voice. "You never said they were tan. How do you expect me to know anything when you don't tell me right." "You're just ignorant is all," Mr. Head said...."I will find myself dipping into this collection for some of the nuggets to be scraped from the river bed of her observations. On religion in the concluding story "The Displaced Person" she muses in the guise of the lead character:....she felt that religion was essentially for those people who didn't have the brains to avoid evil without it. For people like herself, for people of gumption, it was a special occasion providing the opportunity to sing.Recommended.

[jawalter · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The last book I read was also a collection of short stories, but that is where the comparison stops. Each and every one of the stories in A Good Man is Hard to Find is a gem, masterfully polished and displayed by Ms. O'Connor.

This is, I think, the third or fourth time I've read through this book, and I still can't decide what she thinks of the human experiment. On the one hand, she paints her characters with such exquisite detail, putting forth their quirks and foibles in such a way that you can't help but know that she's studied the world around her with tenderness and affection. On the other hand, however, having set these people up like bowling pins, she immediately proceeds to knock them down. She so completely shreds her characters, using their own beliefs and worldviews to tear them apart with an almost unimaginable caustic fury.

I love this book. Ms. O'Connor's apocalyptic vision of an America whose destruction comes from the depths of its own soul rings painfully true. Every character in this book thinks he or she has found the good man of the book's title, and they all think that they are that man. If that isn't America in a nutshell, I don't know what is.

[hemlokgang · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hard to believe I have never read Flannery O'Connor's stories before! She was an absolutely amazing writer. Her stories are dark, distrustful of humanity, and clearly support her belief that "A Good Man is Hard to Find". The author's early diagnosis of lupus and her devout Catholicism are a matter of record, and the impact of these two aspects of her life is clear throughout the stories. There are a few moments of grace, there are frequent religious symbols, portents, and consequences. Bottom line......no one is immune to tragedy, to darkness, and to disillusionment. Yeah, yeah, yeah.....I know....who would want to read such dark stuff? I say, anyone who appreciates clear, well-crafted prose. And, believe it or not, there are phrases which are drop dead funny that appear every so often, and O'Connor has that delightful Dickensian ability to choose great names for her characters!