Uncommon Grace: The Life of Flannery O’Connor

Man

I THINK IF YOU LOOK AT THE AMERICAN SHORT STORY, WHICH TO ME IS ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE UNITED STATES IN THE 20th CENTURY -- IF YOU LOOK AT THE MODERN SHORT STORY, I DON'T THINK THERE IS ANYBODY WHO IS MORE THE MASTER OF THE FORM THAN FLANNERY O'CONNOR. IN THE 50 YEARS SINCE HER DEATH, I THINK IT HAS BECOME EVEN MORE APPARENT WHAT A MASTER OF THE FORM SHE WAS. NO MATTER WHAT YOUR BACKGROUND IS IN RELIGION OF ANY KIND, YOU ARE THROWN UP AGAINST THAT MOMENT OF WHO YOU ARE, WHERE YOU ARE, WHY YOU ARE. NOW, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO ANSWER THAT, YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO, BUT THERE IS A MOMENT THAT THAT HAS TO BE DEALT WITH.

AND I THINK O'CONNOR'S STORIES COME DOWN TO THAT AND DEAL WITH THAT.

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"HER COLD, PRECISE, BRUTAL STYLE HAS THE SHOCKING POWER OF A BLOW BETWEEN THE EYES," A NEW YORK TIMES CRITIC ONCE SAID OF HER WORK. FOR A YOUNG WOMAN KNOWN FOR HER RESERVE AND DEEP RELIGIOUS BELIEFS, FLANNERY O'CONNOR'S STORIES HAD A SURPRISINGLY VISCERAL QUALITY. IN TWO NOVELS AND MORE THAN SOME 32 SHORT STORIES, HER UNSUSPECTING CHARACTERS CAME FACE-TO-FACE WITH VANDALS, CON MEN -- EVEN AN ESCAPED KILLER. BUT FOR O'CONNOR, THESE CALAMITIES HAD AN EVEN DEEPER, MORE MYSTERIOUS EFFECT, SHAKING THE VICTIM FROM HIS OWN SPIRITUAL STUPOR.

PROPELLED BY HER WRY HUMOR AND INCOMPARABLE SENSE OF IRONY, O'CONNOR'S TALES OF CRISIS AND AWAKENING REMAIN VITAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO AMERICAN LITERATURE. MARY FLANNERY O'CONNOR WAS BORN MARCH 25, 1925, IN SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, THE ONLY CHILD OF REGINA CLINE AND ED O'CONNOR, A WORLD WAR I VETERAN WHO HAD TAKEN UP A CAREER IN REAL ESTATE. IN A NUMBER OF RESPECTS, O'CONNOR'S PARENTS COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE DIFFERENT. THE PRODUCT OF A MIDDLE-CLASS FAMILY, EDWARD WAS EASYGOING, PLAYFUL, AND QUICK TO PRAISE VIRTUALLY ANYTHING HIS DAUGHTER DID.

REGINA, MEANWHILE, HAILED FROM A WEALTHY, POLITICALLY PROMINENT FAMILY IN CENTRAL GEORGIA. IN LINE WITH HER WELL-HEELED BACKGROUND, SHE TRIED TO RAISE MARY FLANNERY AS A PROPER SOUTHERN LADY, GENTLY CORRECTING HER SMALL BREACHES OF ETIQUETTE, AND CAREFULLY CHOOSING THE PLAYMATES THAT WOULD ENTER THEIR THRESHOLD. WHAT THEY HAD IN COMMON WAS A STRONG CATHOLIC FAITH, SOMETHING THAT CAST THEM AS OUTSIDERS IN 1920s GEORGIA. BY RAISING THEIR CHILD IN LAFAYETTE SQUARE, AN ENCLAVE FOR IRISH-CATHOLICS IN THE HEART OF SAVANNAH, THE COUPLE ENJOYED SOMETHING OF A BUFFER FROM THE INTOLERANCE THAT OTHERS WITH THEIR BACKGROUND SOMETIMES ENDURED IN THE SOUTH.

IN THEIR THREE-STORY ROW HOUSE ACROSS FROM THE TOWERING CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, HER DOTING PARENTS TRIED TO CREATE A SAFE HAVEN WHERE SHE COULD FEEL SECURE.

Man

THERE WERE THOSE SIGNS OUT, "HELP WANTED, NO IRISH," SO THERE WERE THINGS LIKE THAT. I THINK SHE HAD VERY MUCH OF AN AWARENESS OF BEING A SECOND-CLASS CITIZEN.

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WHILE HER PARENTS DID THEIR BEST TO MAKE MARY FLANNERY FIT IN, THERE WERE EARLY SIGNS THAT THE CHILD WAS GOING TO DO THINGS HER OWN WAY. NEVER WAS THAT MORE CLEAR THAN WHEN, AT THE AGE OF 5, SHE REMARKABLY TAUGHT HER PET CHICKEN TO WALK BACKWARD AS WELL AS FORWARD. WORD OF THE UNUSUAL TRICK SPREAD IN THE LOCAL PRESS. EVENTUALLY THE PATH NEWSREEL FIRM SENT A CAMERAMAN TO CAPTURE THE STUNT, BRINGING O'CONNOR AND HER HEN TO BIG SCREENS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

Newsreel Voice-Over

"HERE'S MARY O'CONNOR OF SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, HOLDING THE ONLY CHICKEN IN THE WORLD THAT ACTUALLY WALKS BACKWARD."

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O'CONNOR SEEMED TO RELISH HER FIRST BRUSH WITH FAME, ONCE CALLING THE EPISODE THE HIGH POINT OF HER LIFE. BUT DURING MOST OF HER YOUTH, SHE SPENT MORE TIME AVERTING ATTENTION THAN SEEKING IT. AT THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL SHE ATTENDED, O'CONNOR WAS PAINFULLY SHY, ONCE DESCRIBING HERSELF AS, "A PIGEON-TOED CHILD WITH A RECEDING CHIN AND A 'YOU LEAVE ME ALONE OR I'LL BITE YOU' COMPLEX." YEARS LATER, MARY FLANNERY, WHO EVEN AS A CHILD CALLED HER PARENTS BY THEIR FIRST NAMES, ADMITTED FEELING OLDER THAN MOST KIDS HER AGE. AT HER CATHOLIC GRADE SCHOOL, SHE WENT SO FAR AS TO SKIP THE SUNDAY CHILDREN'S MASS IN ORDER TO ATTEND WITH ADULTS LATER IN THE DAY.

WHEN THE DECISION LANDED HER IN HOT WATER WITH THE NUNS, O'CONNOR EXHIBITED AN UNUSUAL CONFIDENCE.

Aldrich

SHE HAD TO STAND UP IN CLASS EVERY MONDAY MORNING WHEN SHE WAS ATTENDING ST. VINCENT'S, BECAUSE SHE HAD TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, "WHY WEREN'T YOU THERE?" AND OF COURSE, SHE HAD A GREAT ANSWER THAT IS JUST ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS TO SHARE -- "THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DOES NOT DICTATE TO MY FAMILY WHAT TIME I ATTEND MASS."

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FROM AN EARLY AGE, THE PRECOCIOUS SCHOOLGIRL SEEMED MOST AT EASE IN HER UPSTAIRS BEDROOM, WALLED OFF FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD. WHEN SHE WASN'T DRAWING EXOTIC BIRDS OR WRITING FICTION OF HER OWN, SHE COULD BE FOUND READING CHILDREN'S LITERATURE WITH AN UNUSUALLY CRITICAL EYE. FLANNERY WAS LEFT ALONE. SHE WAS GIVEN THE FREEDOM TO PURSUE HER OWN INTERESTS, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, TO READ.

IF YOU GO TO THE CHILDHOOD HOME IN SAVANNAH, IT'S FASCINATING TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT BOOKS THAT SHE ACTUALLY READ AS A CHILD, AND EVEN AS A CHILD, SHE'S MAKING ANNOTATIONS AND MARGINALIA. IN FACT, SHE CALLS "PINOCCHIO" ONE OF THE WORST BOOKS SHE'S EVER READ. THE ONLY PERSON SHE WILLINGLY LET INTO HER REALM OF FANTASY WAS HER FATHER, ED, WHO HAPPILY INDULGED HIS DAUGHTER'S LIVELY IMAGINATION. SHE SOMETIMES TUCKED POEMS AND ILLUSTRATIONS UNDER HIS DISHWARE, PLAYFULLY REFERRING TO HERSELF AS "LORD FLANNERY O'CONNOR." NOT TO BE OUTDONE, ED WOULD RESPOND WITH NOTES SIGNED "KING OF SIAM." IN TIME, HIS DAUGHTER GREW CLOSE ENOUGH TO A FEW OF HER CLASSMATES TO FORM A CLUB CALLED THE MERRIWEATHER GIRLS.

DURING MEETINGS, O'CONNOR WOULD LEAD HER FRIENDS TO A BACKYARD PLAYHOUSE OR A QUIET 3rd FLOOR BATHROOM AND SHARE HER LATEST STORIES, INCLUDING ONE ABOUT A GLOBETROTTING FAMILY OF DUCKS. EVEN THEN, SHE DEMONSTRATED A RARE THEATRICAL SENSIBILITY, INTERRUPTING A GUEST READER WHEN A SECTION OF THE STORY SOUNDED OFF. AS SHE WOULD LATER WRITE IN A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT, "I AM ONLY 14 YEARS OLD, BUT I FEEL THAT I NEED TO BRING LITERATURE INTO BEING." WHILE ECONOMIC TURMOIL WREAKED HAVOC ON MANY SAVANNAH HOUSEHOLDS IN THE 1930s, THE O'CONNORS WERE FORTUNATE TO HAVE A SAFETY NET. THEY HAD RENTED THEIR HOUSE FROM REGINA'S WEALTHY COUSIN, KATIE SEMMES, WHO LIVED NEXT DOOR.

WHEN EDWARD'S REALTY AND CONSTRUCTION BUSINESSES FALTERED, IT WAS THE GENEROSITY OF SEMMES THAT ENABLED THE FAMILY TO MAINTAIN THEIR COMFORTABLE LIFESTYLE IN LAFAYETTE SQUARE.

Aldrich

I'M OF A MIND NOW TO WONDER IF MARY FLANNERY WOULD HAVE EVER BECOME THE WRITER SHE HAD BECOME IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR ALL THAT FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM COUSIN KATIE. BECAUSE SHE WAS ABLE TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME WRITING AND DRAWING AND DOING THINGS LIKE THAT IN THIS HOUSE THAT SHE MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO OTHERWISE.

Narrator

BEGINNING IN 1938, LIFE WOULD BECOME FAR MORE TURBULENT WHEN THE FAMILY RELOCATED TO ATLANTA. IN WHAT LOOKED LIKE AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET BACK ON HIS FEET FINANCIALLY, ED LANDED A JOB WITH THE NEWLY-CREATED FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION. BUT THE NEW ROLE WOULD MEAN UPROOTING THE FAMILY TO ATLANTA, A CITY PARTICULARLY HARD-HIT BY THE DEPRESSION. MARY FLANNERY HATED IT.

"MY IDEA OF ATLANTA IS TO GET IN, GET IT OVER WITH, AND GET OUT BEFORE DARK," SHE WROTE TO A FRIEND YEARS LATER. HOPING TO FIND A MORE HOSPITABLE HOME FOR THE TEENAGER, THE TWO O'CONNOR WOMEN MOVED IN WITH REGINA'S AUNT AND TWO SISTERS IN MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA. WHILE THE TEENAGER WAS ACCUSTOMED TO SEEING THE SMALL COLLEGE TOWN AS A VISITOR, MOVING THERE WAS YET ANOTHER SEA CHANGE. THE MOST IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF THE RELOCATION, AND ONE THAT SEEMED TO ELICIT MIXED FEELINGS IN MARY FLANNERY, WAS A DRAMATIC CHANGE IN SOCIAL STATUS.

THE FUTURE AUTHOR WAS NOW LIVING WITH HER OLDER RELATIVES IN CLINE HOUSE, AN ANTEBELLUM MANSION THAT ONCE HOUSED THE STATE'S GOVERNOR. HERE, THERE WERE UNMISTAKABLE SIGNS OF CLINE FAMILY WEALTH, INCLUDING ELEGANT DINNERS PREPARED BY A SMALL TEAM OF BLACK SERVANTS. IF HER NEW PRIVILEGED EXISTENCE HAD ITS PERKS, O'CONNOR WOULD LATER CHIDE THE RIGID CLASS DISTINCTIONS SHE SAW AROUND HER. SEVERAL OF HER CHARACTERS -- AGING ARISTOCRATS HOPELESSLY CLINGING TO THE OLD SOUTH -- BORE A STRIKING RESEMBLANCE TO THE RELATIVES WITH WHOM SHE NOW SHARED A ROOF.

THE BIGGEST AND MOST SHOCKING CHANGE YET HAD TO DO WITH HER FATHER, STILL LIVING IN ATLANTA DURING THE WORKWEEK. FOR SOME TIME, ED'S HEALTH HAD TAKEN A MYSTERIOUS TURN FOR THE WORSE. THE FAMILY WOULD EVENTUALLY DISCOVER THAT HE WAS SUFFERING FROM LUPUS, A PAINFUL DISEASE IN WHICH THE BODY'S IMMUNE SYSTEM ATTACKS ITS OWN HEALTHY TISSUE. EDWARD O'CONNOR WOULD SUCCUMB TO THE ILLNESS JUST SHY OF HIS DAUGHTER'S 16th BIRTHDAY.

SHE HAD A VERY CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH HER FATHER. IN FACT, LATER ON, LONG AFTER HE HAD DIED, SHE WOULD WRITE IN A LETTER THAT SHE DIDN'T JUST LOSE A FATHER, SHE LOST HER BEST FRIEND. IF ADOLESCENCE MARKED A TIME OF TURMOIL AND PROFOUND LOSS, IT WAS ALSO THE PERIOD WHEN O'CONNOR FOUND THE FIRST REAL OUTLET FOR HER CREATIVE ENERGIES. AT PEABODY HIGH SCHOOL, SHE EXPLOITED HER DUAL TALENTS, CONTRIBUTING BOTH CARTOONS AND BOOK REVIEWS TO THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER.

A FEW YEARS LATER, SHE WOULD AGAIN IMMERSE HERSELF IN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AT GEORGIA STATE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN, JUST A BLOCK AWAY FROM CLINE HOUSE. THOUGH SHE SERVED AS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE SCHOOL'S LITERARY MAGAZINE, SHE MADE HER BIGGEST MARK AS ART EDITOR OF THE SCHOOL'S YEARBOOK. THE CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION SHE RECEIVED AS A CARTOONIST -- INCLUDING A NOTABLE PROFILE IN THE MACON NEWSPAPER -- WASN'T DUE TO HER TECHNICAL SKILL. WHEN O'CONNOR SKETCHED BOB HOPE DURING HIS VISIT TO THE SCHOOL IN 1943, THE ENTERTAINER JOKED THAT THE OUTSIZED IMAGE MADE HIM LOOK LIKE THE SUPERINTENDENT OF A CHAIN GANG.

ASKED BY AN ONLOOKER WHAT HE SHOULD GIVE HER FOR THE DRAWING, HOPE DEADPANNED, "HELL." WHAT SHE DID HAVE WAS THE SAME WRY HUMOR THAT WOULD PERMEATE HER LATER WRITINGS. IN CARTOON AFTER CARTOON, THE INTROVERTED ARTIST -- WHO CONTINUED TO LIVE AT CLINE MANSION THROUGHOUT COLLEGE -- BROUGHT A FRESH, DETACHED PERSPECTIVE TO LIFE AT GSCW. A RECURRING SUBJECT WAS A GROUP OF FEMALE NAVAL RESERVISTS WHO DESCENDED ON THE CAMPUS DURING THE WAR, MUCH TO THE DISMAY OF THE STUDENT BODY. IN ONE OF THE BLACK-AND-WHITE COMICS, AN UNDERGRAD USES THE CADETS AS AN ARCHERY TARGET, A REFLECTION OF THE PERSISTENT TENSION BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS.

AS GRADUATION LOOMED, O'CONNOR SET HER SIGHTS BEYOND MILLEDGEVILLE. PONDERING A CAREER AS A POLITICAL CARTOONIST, SHE APPLIED FOR AND WON A SCHOLARSHIP TO THE GRADUATE JOURNALISM PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA. THE STUNNED WOMEN AT THE CLINE HOUSE PREDICTED MARY FLANNERY, ACCUSTOMED TO A SHELTERED EXISTENCE IN BOTH SAVANNAH AND MILLEDGEVILLE, WOULDN'T LAST MORE THAN THREE WEEKS UP NORTH. THEIR GRIM PROPHECIES WOULD PROVE UNFOUNDED.

YET O'CONNOR DID EXPERIENCE ONE IMPORTANT CHANGE OF HEART WHEN ARRIVING AT IOWA CITY, DROPPING OUT OF THE JOURNALISM TRACK AND APPLYING FOR THE UNIVERSITY'S PRESTIGIOUS CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP. THE ONLY PROBLEM WAS THAT, WHEN THE GEORGIAN WENT TO THE OFFICE OF WORKSHOP DIRECTOR PAUL ENGLE, HE COULDN'T UNDERSTAND A WORD OF HER SOUTHERN DRAWL. ENGLE POINTED TO A NOTEPAD, ON WHICH SHE BEGAN TO SCRIBBLE. "I AM NOT A JOURNALIST," SHE WROTE.

"CAN I COME TO THE WRITERS' WORKSHOP?" IMPRESSED BY HER WRITING SAMPLES, HE QUICKLY ADMITTED O'CONNOR TO THE PROGRAM. IN PART, THE 20-YEAR-OLD MAY HAVE BEEN HEDGING HER BETS. WITH SEVERAL OF HER CARTOONS REJECTED BY "THE NEW YORKER" AND OTHER OUTLETS, A CAREER IN DRAWING LOOKED INCREASINGLY UNLIKELY. IN THE LONG RUN, THOSE REJECTION LETTERS WOULD PROVE A BLESSING IN DISGUISE.

NOW THE MULTI-TALENTED O'CONNOR COULD COMPLETELY FOCUS HER ENERGIES ON LITERARY ENDEAVORS. AND AT THE WRITERS' WORKSHOP, SHE WOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN THE STORYTELLING CRAFT FROM SOME OF THE MOST HIGHLY RESPECTED INSTRUCTORS IN THE COUNTRY. THE WORKSHOP, WHERE STUDENTS PRESENTED THEIR COMPOSITIONS ORALLY AND HAD THEM DISSECTED BY THE ENTIRE CLASS, COULD BE DAUNTING. FOR THE TIMID SOUTHERNER, ONE OF THE FEW FEMALE STUDENTS, IT WAS A PARTICULARLY HARROWING EXPERIENCE.

TO ELIMINATE ANY CONFUSION OVER HER THICK ACCENT, THE INSTRUCTOR READ HER WORK, ANONYMOUSLY, TO THE GROUP. IT QUICKLY BECAME APPARENT THAT O'CONNOR'S WRITING, THOUGH NOT FULLY DEVELOPED, HAD A SOPHISTICATION THAT WAS UNUSUAL FOR SUCH A YOUNG WRITER. ENGLE RECALLED, "SITTING AT THE BACK OF THE ROOM, SILENT, FLANNERY WAS MORE OF A PRESENCE THAN THE EXUBERANT TALKERS WHO SERENADE EVERY WRITING CLASS WITH THEIR LOUDNESS." HER ALMOST DAILY LETTERS BACK HOME TO REGINA REVEAL A YOUNG WRITER GROWING MORE SELF-ASSURED ON HER BIGGEST STAGE YET. "THE MAN WHO TEACHES MAGAZINE WRITING GAVE ME A PAPER BACK WITH 'CLEVER AS HELL' ON IT, SO I PRESUME I AM DOING ALL RIGHT IN HIS CLASS," SHE WROTE.

DESPITE HER RAW TALENT, HER INSTRUCTORS RECALL A STUDENT EAGER TO HONE HER CRAFT IN WHATEVER WAY POSSIBLE. PART OF THAT PROCESS MEANT DIVING HEADLONG INTO THE MASTERS -- JAMES JOYCE, WILLIAM FAULKNER, JOSEPH CONRAD, FRANCOIS MAURIAC, DOSTOEVSKY -- AND SOAKING UP WHATEVER SHE COULD. BY JUST HER SECOND SEMESTER, O'CONNOR WOULD HAVE ONE OF HER FIRST STORIES, "THE GERANIUM," PUBLISHED IN A SMALL LITERARY MAGAZINE. ECHOING HER OWN FEELINGS OF HOMESICKNESS, O'CONNOR INTRODUCED A SOUTHERN WIDOWER TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF HIS NEW LIFE IN BUSTLING NEW YORK CITY.

IN A MOVE THAT REFLECTED HER GROWING LITERARY ASPIRATIONS, THE AUTHOR DECIDED TO PEN THE STORY UNDER THE SIMPLIFIED NAME FLANNERY O'CONNOR, DROPPING MARY. "WHO WAS LIKELY TO BUY THE STORIES OF AN IRISH WASHERWOMAN," SHE LATER MUSED TO A FRIEND. HER FLEDGLING CAREER WOULD GET AN EVEN BIGGER LIFT WHEN THE PUBLISHING FIRM RINEHART & COMPANY BOUGHT THE OPTION FOR A NOVEL SHE HAD STARTED TO DEVELOP AT IOWA. THE DARKLY SATIRICAL BOOK WOULD CENTER AROUND A YOUNG MAN, HAZEL MOTES, A DISILLUSIONED WAR VETERAN BATTLING HIS OWN UNSHAKABLE NEED FOR SPIRITUAL ANSWERS.

I STARTED MY OWN CHURCH, CHURCH OF THE TRUTH WITHOUT CHRIST. PROTESTANT, OR SOMETHING FOREIGN? OH, NO MA'AM, IT'S PROTESTANT. LIKE SOME OF O'CONNOR'S WORKSHOP PIECES, THE NOVEL WOULD EXPLORE A TOPIC THAT FASCINATED THE YOUNG AUTHOR -- THE ROLE OF FAITH IN A WORLD THAT INCREASINGLY SAW GOD AS IRRELEVANT.

RAISED INTO A DEVOUT CATHOLIC FAMILY, RELIGIOUS BELIEF HAD ALWAYS PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN O'CONNOR'S LIFE. AT IOWA, WHERE SHE ATTENDED DAILY MASS, SUCH INCLINATIONS WOULD ONLY INTENSIFY. A PRAYER DIARY THAT SHE MAINTAINED DURING GRADUATE SCHOOL REVEALS A YOUNG WOMAN FERVENTLY SEEKING TO DEEPEN HER SPIRITUAL LIFE.

Sessions

I DISCOVERED THIS MANUSCRIPT OF A JOURNAL OF PRAYERS, A DIARY OF PRAYERS THAT HAD BEEN WRITTEN IN 1946. AND THIS WAS 2002, 2003, AND HAD NEVER BEEN FOUND, IN OTHER WORDS. I FOUND IT IN A METAL BOX, AND THE PERSON WHO BROUGHT ME THESE MANUSCRIPTS BROUGHT THEM TO THE HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS ON THE THIRD FLOOR IN MY ROOM. BUT AS I READ IT, I KNEW SOMETHING WAS ALIVE IN IT THAT HAD NOT REALLY BEEN SHOWN AND NEEDED TO BE ALIVE.

I'D SAY THEY ARE VERY SOUL-SEARCHING, THEY ARE VERY INTIMATE, THEY ARE VERY KIND OF -- SOMETIMES THEY ARE PRAYERS OF PETITION. "MAKE ME A GOOD WRITER. HELP ME TO DO THE RIGHT THING. HELP ME TO FIND AN INSIGHT INTO WHAT ALL THIS IS ABOUT." SHE WAS ALSO TRYING TO RECONCILE WHAT IT MEANT TO BE CATHOLIC, AND TO BE A MODERN WRITER.

SHE'S AMBITIOUS IN BOTH WAYS, AND THEN YOU SEE IN HER PRAYER JOURNAL, SHE'S PRAYING TO GOD TO MAKE HER A WRITER. AT CERTAIN TIMES, SHE SOUNDS AS IF GOD IS WRITING THESE STORIES THROUGH HER, THAT SHE IS JUST THE TYPEWRITER.

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AFTER A POST-GRADUATE YEAR IN IOWA CITY, SHE RESUMED WORK ON HER NOVEL ON THE EAST COAST, FIRST AT THE YADDO ARTIST COLONY IN UPSTATE NEW YORK, AND LATER IN MANHATTAN. WHILE O'CONNOR SHARED MANY OF THE SAME RESERVATIONS ABOUT BIG CITY LIFE AS HER CHARACTER IN "THE GERANIUM," THE MOVE OFFERED HER THE CHANCE TO ENCOUNTER SOME OF THE LEADING MINDS IN LITERATURE, MANY OF WHOM PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN ADVANCING HER CAREER. AMONG THEM WAS ROBERT LOWELL, BY THEN A WELL-ESTABLISHED POET WITH DEEP CONNECTIONS IN THE ARTISTIC COMMUNITY. THROUGH LOWELL, SHE MET THE POET AND TRANSLATOR OF CLASSICS ROBERT FITZGERALD, AND HIS WIFE SALLY, WHO INVITED O'CONNOR TO BECOME A HOUSEGUEST IN THE FALL OF 1949.

THIS HOME AWAY FROM HOME IN SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT WAS IN SOME WAYS THE PERFECT SETTING FOR THE ASPIRING WRITER. BY DAY, SHE HAD THE FREEDOM TO TYPE AWAY IN HER SMALL STUDIO ABOVE THE GARAGE, AND AFTER DINNER, DISCUSS THEOLOGY AND LITERATURE WITH HER NEW FRIENDS. IT WAS HERE THAT O'CONNOR'S NOVEL TOOK SHAPE. IN HAZEL MOTES, FOUNDER OF THE SARDONIC "CHURCH OF GOD WITHOUT CHRIST," SHE DEVELOPED A SIGNATURE CHARACTER -- THE SECULAR PROPHET SUBCONSCIOUSLY SEARCHING FOR A DEEPER TRUTH BEHIND THE UNIVERSE.

IRONICALLY, MOTES ULTIMATELY LOSES FAITH IN HIS OWN DISBELIEF, AND IN A STUNNING ACT OF SPIRITUAL SURRENDER BLINDS HIMSELF, A PLOT TWIST BORROWED FROM FITZGERALD'S RECENT TRANSLATION WORK ON "OEDIPUS REX." HOWEVER, FINISHING THE PROJECT PROVED MORE DIFFICULT THAN O'CONNOR IMAGINED. RINEHART DROPPED THE YOUNG WRITER WHEN SHE REFUSED TO CREATE A MORE CONVENTIONAL STORYLINE, FORCING HER TO FIND A NEW PUBLISHER. IN ROBERT GIROUX, AN ASTUTE EDITOR AT HARCOURT BRACE, SHE FOUND SOMEONE WHO WAS WILLING TO TAKE ON THE RISK. FOR A WHILE, IT SEEMED THAT THE PROJECT WAS BACK ON TRACK.

BUT BY CHRISTMAS OF 1950, THE 25-YEAR-OLD EXPERIENCED AN EVEN BIGGER SETBACK. SUDDENLY, SHE HAD DIFFICULTY LIFTING HER ARMS TO THE TYPEWRITER, AND WAS NOW WALKING WITH A SLIGHT LIMP. TOLD THAT IT WAS PROBABLY A CASE OF ARTHRITIS, FLANNERY TOOK THE 900-MILE TRAIN HOME TO MILLEDGEVILLE FOR THE HOLIDAY.

Sessions

SALLY FITZGERALD PUT HER ON THE TRAIN AND COMMENTED ABOUT THIS HEALTHY YOUNG WOMAN WITH A BRIGHT BERET. BY THE TIME SHE'D COME TO ATLANTA AND HER UNCLE MET HER, HE LOOKED AT HER -- AND I'M PARAPHRASING HERE. WHAT HE TOLD ME, HER UNCLE LOUIS TOLD ME, WAS WHEN HE MET HER, SHE LOOKED LIKE AN OLD MAN. THAT IS, HE DIDN'T SAY WOMAN, HE SAID AN OLD MAN.

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A SPECIALIST WOULD INFORM HER MOTHER, REGINA, THAT THE AILMENT WAS IN FACT SOMETHING FAR WORSE THAN ARTHRITIS. LIKE HER FATHER, FLANNERY WAS SUFFERING FROM THE AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE LUPUS, AND LIKELY HAD FIVE YEARS TO LIVE. YET INITIALLY, SHE DECIDED TO KEEP THE DISTURBING NEWS FROM HER DAUGHTER, FEARING THAT IT WOULD MAKE HER CONDITION EVEN WORSE. STILL UNAWARE OF HER DIAGNOSIS, O'CONNOR WAS TRANSFERRED TO A HOSPITAL IN ATLANTA FOR A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTAL HORMONE TREATMENTS.

IT QUICKLY BECAME APPARENT THAT THE PATIENT WOULD HAVE TO CONVALESCE WITH REGINA RATHER THAN RETURNING TO CONNECTICUT, AS SHE HAD SO FERVENTLY HOPED. LOOKING FOR AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE FLANNERY COULD WRITE WITHOUT DISTRACTION, THEY MOVED INTO A SERENE, 550-ACRE FARM THAT REGINA HAD RECENTLY INHERITED FROM HER BROTHER. AFTER PUTTING THE FINAL TOUCHES ON HER NOVEL AT THE FARM, "WISE BLOOD" FINALLY HIT BOOKSHELVES IN MAY 1952. BUT IT QUICKLY BECAME CLEAR THE BOOK WOULDN'T BE THE INSTANT COMMERCIAL OR CRITICAL SUCCESS ITS AUTHOR HAD HOPED FOR.

WHILE A FEW REVIEWERS ADMIRED HER INTENSITY AND FRESHNESS, SOME HAD TROUBLE RELATING TO THE MAIN CHARACTER, WHO THEY SAW AS MORE MANIACAL THAN MYSTIC. GIROUX CONCLUDED, "THEY ALL RECOGNIZED HER POWER BUT MISSED HER POINT." THE REACTION ON THE HOME FRONT WASN'T MUCH FRIENDLIER. WITH "WISE BLOOD," FLANNERY DELIBERATELY AVOIDED THE SUGAR-COATED PIETY PREVALENT IN MUCH OF THE POPULAR FICTION OF THE DAY, INSTEAD TAKING HAZEL'S DESCENT INTO SIN HEAD-ON. FAMILY AND FRIENDS WERE CAUGHT OFF-GUARD, ESPECIALLY WHEN READING ABOUT THE EX-SOLDIER'S TRIP TO LEORA WATTS, WHO ADVERTISED "THE FRIENDLIEST BED IN TOWN." THE LACK OF LURID DETAILS MADE LITTLE DIFFERENCE.

A BELOVED AUNT IN SAVANNAH REPORTEDLY WROTE APOLOGY NOTES TO THE LOCAL PRIESTS, AND A FORMER ENGLISH INSTRUCTOR IN MILLEDGEVILLE WAS SO OUTRAGED THAT SHE HURLED THE BOOK ACROSS THE ROOM. O'CONNOR WAS UNDETERRED. WHEN SHE REGAINED HER STRENGTH, SHE HEADED BACK TO CONNECTICUT, PERHAPS HOPING TO ESCAPE THE PROVINCIAL ATTITUDES SHE ENDURED IN GEORGIA. BUT JUST FIVE WEEKS INTO HER STAY, A VIRAL INFECTION WOULD ONCE AGAIN TRIGGER THE LUPUS, SENDING HER BACK HOME FOR TWO MORE BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS, AND EVEN MORE INTENSE HORMONE TREATMENT.

FINALLY APPRISED OF HER TRUE DIAGNOSIS, O'CONNOR RESIGNED HERSELF TO LIFE ON THE ANTEBELLUM ESTATE THAT SHE AND REGINA CALLED ANDALUSIA.

King

HERE WAS A WOMAN WHO HAD DONE EVERYTHING SHE COULD TO MAKE HERSELF A NEW YORK WRITER. SHE HAD BEGUN TO MEET INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN THE LITERARY SCENE IN NEW YORK. SHE HAD AN AGENT. SHE HAD AN EDITOR.

SHE WAS REALLY READY TO LIVE THE LIFE THAT SO MANY OTHER YOUNG WRITERS WERE ABLE TO LIVE IN MID-20th CENTURY NEW YORK CITY. AND THEN SHE GETS SICK WITH LUPUS AND HAS TO COME HOME. SHE DIDN'T WANT TO BE AT HOME, BUT SHE ACCEPTED IT. SO I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND, FIRST OF ALL, THIS IS NOT WHAT FLANNERY REALLY WANTED FOR HERSELF, BUT SHE ACCEPTED IT AS SHE ACCEPTED EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED TO HER IN LIFE, AND SHE MADE THE BEST OF IT.

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THOUGH O'CONNOR INITIALLY SAW HER CONFINEMENT TO ANDALUSIA AS DISAPPOINTMENT, THE SPRAWLING FARM WOULD BECOME AN INTEGRAL COMPONENT OF HER FICTION. IN HER SPARSE SURROUNDINGS, SHE FOUND A PERFECT BACKDROP FOR HER SUBSEQUENT DRAMAS, MANY OF WHICH WOULD RELY ON A SENSE OF ISOLATION TO BUILD SUSPENSE. IT WAS AS IF O'CONNOR COULD LOOK OUT HER WINDOW AND SEE THE ACTION UNFOLD ON THE EXPANSIVE LANDSCAPE IN FRONT OF HER. EVEN THE MAJESTIC PEACOCKS AND HENS THAT SHE KEPT ON THE PROPERTY, A FLOCK REACHING 40 AT ONE POINT, SOMETIMES FOUND THEIR WAY INTO HER STORIES.

King

TODAY, IF YOU GO TO ANDALUSIA AND YOU STAND ON THE FRONT PORCH, AND YOU LOOK OUT ACROSS THE HORIZON, YOU SEE EXACTLY WHAT IS IN ALL OF THESE STORIES, ESPECIALLY THE TREE LINE. IT'S THERE, AND THE SUN -- TO WATCH A SUNSET AT ANDALUSIA IS TO KNOW WHY THAT IMAGE IS SO IMPORTANT IN SO MANY OF HER STORIES. SO THAT WAS HER WORLD, AND OF COURSE SHE MADE THAT MICROCOSM INTO SOMETHING THAT BECAME UNIVERSAL.

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UNDER HER MOTHER'S CARE, THE AILING WRITER RESOLVED TO MAKE THE MOST OF HER REMAINING TIME. THAT MEANT POURING MOST OF HER ENERGY INTO A MEDIUM THAT OFFERED A MORE IMMEDIATE PAYOFF -- THE SHORT STORY. DESPITE BATTLING JOINT PAIN, FEVERS, AND INTENSE ITCHING, O'CONNOR WAS NOW WRITING A NEW PIECE EVERY FEW MONTHS, SELLING THEM TO LITERARY PUBLICATIONS AND THE FASHION MAGAZINE "HARPER'S BAZAAR." IN A NUMBER OF WAYS, THE TRANSITION TO SHORT FICTION PLAYED TO HER STRENGTHS AS A WRITER. WITH A MORE CONDENSED FORMAT, O'CONNOR WAS ABLE TO INTRODUCE AN ARRAY OF ECCENTRIC SOUTHERN CHARACTERS, FROM THE DELUSIONAL GENERAL SASH IN "A LATE ENCOUNTER WITH THE ENEMY," TO THE CUNNING HANDYMAN TOM T.

SHIFLET IN "THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN." IN WHAT BECAME AN O'CONNOR TRADEMARK, THESE GROTESQUE CHARACTERS -- PART CONTEMPTIBLE, PART COMIC -- EVENTUALLY RUN INTO A STARTLING MOMENT OF TRUTH. THERE IS SOME EXAGGERATION. THERE'S SOME EMPHASIS ON THINGS THAT MANY OF US DON'T WANT TO LOOK AT OR THINK ABOUT, BUT SHE'S TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, PEOPLE WHO DON'T FIT IN. PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE CONSIDERED TO BE FREAKS, AND SHE'S INTERESTED IN HOW THEY EMBODY CHRIST.

ONE OF THOSE FREAKS WAS JOY HOPEWELL, THE YOUNG CRIPPLED WOMAN AT THE CENTER OF "GOOD COUNTRY PEOPLE." CONFINED TO LIFE ON A FARM WITH HER MOTHER BECAUSE OF HER AILING HEART, THE PhD IN PHILOSOPHY WAS SOMETHING OF AN ALTER EGO FOR HER WRITER. UNLIKE O'CONNOR, WHO SAW HER PHYSICAL SUFFERING AS PART OF THE REDEMPTIVE PROCESS, HOPEWELL SEES HERS AS MEANINGLESS. CHANGING HER NAME TO HULGA, HER ONLY SOLUTION IS TO MAKE HERSELF UGLIER STILL. IN MANLEY POINTER, A TRAVELING BIBLE SALESMAN, SHE SEES THE EMBODIMENT OF THE NA VE SPIRITUALITY SHE'S BEEN SO ARDENTLY FIGHTING.

AS IF TO ASSERT HER INTELLECTUAL DOMINANCE OVER FAITH, HOPEWELL DECIDES TO LURE THE UNASSUMING VISITOR INTO A SEXUAL INDISCRETION.

King

POINTER TAKES JOY HULGA TO A HAY LOFT, WHERE HE MANAGES TO UNFASTEN HER WOODEN LEG, AND THEN ABANDON HER. AS HE LEAVES HER, HE SAYS, "YOU AIN'T SO SMART. I BEEN BELIEVING IN NOTHING SINCE I WAS BORN." AND WITH THOSE WORDS, SHE'S LEFT IN THAT HAY LOFT TO PONDER THE ABSURDITY OF THE NIHILISM UPON WHICH SHE HAS BASED HER WHOLE LIFE. SHE UNDERSTANDS, FOR THE FIRST TIME, REALLY, THAT SHE NEEDS SOMEONE.

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GET DOWN OUT OF THAT HAY LOFT WITHOUT YOUR WOODEN LEG? WELL, THAT'S A STRIKING IMAGE THAT SUGGESTS HOW JOY HULGA IS BEGINNING TO SEE THE NEED FOR A REDEEMER, THE NEED FOR AN INTERCESSOR. ALL OF A SUDDEN, "NOTHING" ISN'T QUITE AS SATISFYING AS IT ONCE WAS. O'CONNOR SAW SOME REAL CHALLENGES IN THE WORLD IN A LOT OF WAYS, INCLUDING PHILOSOPHICAL CHALLENGES.

PEOPLE LIKE NIETSCZHE, AND IDEAS SUCH AS THE DEATH OF GOD. I THINK O'CONNOR WAS AFRAID FOR THE SOULS OF PEOPLE IN THE MODERN WORLD, AND SHE UNDERSTOOD THAT NARRATIVE HAS A POWER THAT NO OTHER ART FORM DOES TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHO GOD IS AND WHO WE ARE BEFORE GOD.

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"GOOD COUNTRY PEOPLE" WAS INSPIRED, AT LEAST IN PART, BY A RELATIONSHIP O'CONNOR HAD WITH A TEXTBOOK SALESMAN, ERIK LANGKJAER, WHO WOULD GO OUT OF HIS WAY TO VISIT ANDALUSIA DURING TRIPS TO THE SOUTH. O'CONNOR APPRECIATED HIS COSMOPOLITAN BACKGROUND, AND DURING LONG WALKS AND CAR RIDES, THEY ENGAGED IN INTELLECTUAL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THEOLOGY AND LITERATURE. O'CONNOR EVEN CONFIDED OTHERWISE PRIVATELY-HELD FEELINGS ABOUT THE LOSS OF HER FATHER AND THEIR COMMON ILLNESS. IN A LETTER TO LANGKJAER, SHE STATED THAT SHE MISSED HIM AND HINTED AT THE MEMORY OF A SHARED KISS.

WHEN HE UNEXPECTEDLY WROTE TO SAY HE'D BE LEAVING THE COUNTRY FOR HIS NATIVE DENMARK, SHE WAS LEFT STUNNED, PERHAPS REALIZING HER BEST CHANCE AT MARRIAGE WAS PASSING HER BY. THE STORY OF HULGA AND HULGA JOY AND ALL THAT, THAT HAS A LOT OF BACKGROUND IN THIS FRIENDSHIP WITH THE DANISH GUY, WHO WAS A BOOK SALESMAN, TOO. THOUGH O'CONNOR, IN TYPICAL FASHION, SPUN THE FICTIONAL VERSION IN A VERY DIFFERENT DIRECTION, THE WRITER MAY HAVE BEEN TAPPING HER OWN SENSE OF BETRAYAL IN DEVELOPING THE STORY'S UNEXPECTED CLIMAX. THE INSTANT WHEN A CHARACTER COMPREHENDS THE NARROWNESS OF HER WORLDLY VISION WOULD BECOME A COMMON THEME IN O'CONNOR'S CANON.

NEVER WAS THAT MOMENT MORE SHOCKING THAN 1953's "A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND." IN WHAT WOULD BECOME ONE OF THE WRITER'S BEST-KNOWN WORKS, AN ATLANTA COUPLE WITH THREE CHILDREN EMBARKS ON A ROAD TRIP TO FLORIDA, ONLY TO HAVE THEIR PLANS DERAILED BY THE IMPERIOUS GRANDMOTHER IN THE BACKSEAT. THROUGH A SERIES OF CARELESS DECISIONS, SHE UNWITTINGLY LEADS THE FAMILY TO A ROADSIDE ENCOUNTER WITH A SADISTIC PRISON ESCAPEE CALLED "THE MISFIT." ONLY AT THE BARREL OF A GUN DOES THE MATRIARCH REVEAL HER FIRST MOMENTS OF HUMANITY AND THE POSSIBILITY FOR REDEMPTION. SHE LEADS YOU INTO THIS SITUATION WHERE YOU'RE LAUGHING, THEN YOU'RE REALIZING THAT PEOPLE ARE BEING LED AWAY INTO THE WOODS AND SHOT. "THIS IS NOT FUNNY, I SHOULD STOP LAUGHING." SHE MAKES THE READER QUEASY IN THAT WAY.

O'CONNOR'S STORIES ARE GRAPHIC AND THEY'RE VIOLENT, BUT THEY HAD TO BE. SHE SAID THAT FOR THE HARD OF HEARING, YOU SHOUT, AND FOR THE ALMOST BLIND, YOU DRAW LARGE AND STARTLING FIGURES. WHAT FLANNERY O'CONNOR WAS TRYING TO DO WAS TO REACH A JADED, SECULAR, INTELLECTUAL, POST-MODERN AUDIENCE WITH THE TRUTH THAT CHRISTIANITY IS INDEED, AS SHE SAID, A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH. SHE KNEW TO REACH THOSE PEOPLE, SHE WOULD HAVE TO DO SO IN A DIFFERENT WAY.

AND FOR HER, THAT WAY WAS VIOLENCE. YOU DON'T FORGET WHAT HAPPENS, FOR EXAMPLE, AT THE END OF "A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND," WHEN A FAMILY OF SIX IS BRUTALLY MURDERED, ALL OF THEM SHOT TO DEATH IN A DITCH BANK IN THE PINEY WOODS OF MIDDLE GEORGIA. YOU DON'T FORGET THAT, BECAUSE IT'S BRUTAL, BUT AS O'CONNOR HERSELF SAID, THE POINT IS NOT TO COUNT THE DEAD BODIES. THE POINT IS TO SEE THE ACTION OF GRACE IN THE STORY.

BUT SHE DEFINITELY FOLLOWED ANOTHER FAVORITE CATHOLIC WRITER OF HERS, JAMES JOYCE. AND HE, IN HIS SHORT STORIES, HAD AN IDEA THAT THE -- WHAT HE CALLED AN EPIPHANY, USING A RELIGIOUS TERM ALSO -- AT THE END OF THE STORY, A CHARACTER SEES HIMSELF -- SEES HIMSELF THE WAY HE REALLY IS, STRIPPED OF ILLUSIONS. IN THE MISFIT, O'CONNOR CREATED ONE OF HER MOST UNFORGETTABLE AND TERRIFYING CHARACTERS -- A MAN WHO CAN EFFORTLESSLY RATIONALIZE HIS OWN WICKEDNESS. WITHOUT EMPIRICAL PROOF THAT JESUS RAISED THE DEAD, HE TELLS THE GRANDMOTHER, "IT'S NOTHING FOR YOU TO DO BUT ENJOY THE FEW MINUTES YOU GOT LEFT THE BEST WAY YOU CAN." FLANNERY SAID THAT EVIL IS NOT A PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED, IT'S A MYSTERY TO ENDURE.

EVIL IS ALWAYS WITH US. EVIL IS PRESENT IN THE WORLD, AND TO HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF GOD'S PLACE IN THE WORLD, YOU HAVE TO ALSO ACCEPT THE FACT THAT THE DEVIL IS VERY MUCH AT WORK. AND IT IS INDEED AN EVIL, FALLEN WORLD. CULTURALLY, SHE BECAME A PHENOMENON, AND STILL IS.

THAT IS, PEOPLE WILL SAY, "THAT'S A FLANNERY O'CONNOR STORY," OR "THAT'S A KIND OF FLANNERY O'CONNOR ACTIVITY" AND SO FORTH. WELL, WHAT IS THAT? BASICALLY, IT IS SEEN IN "THE MISFIT," AND I HAVE TO SAY, IN AN O'CONNOR STORY, YOU HAVE TO REALIZE THAT EVIL IS VERY MUCH ALIVE. WITH HER ATTENTION FIXED ON MORE CONDENSED STORIES, O'CONNOR SEEMED TO BE HITTING HER STRIDE AS A WRITER.

WITHIN JUST A COUPLE YEARS, SHE RECEIVED MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS FOR THE COVETED O. HENRY AWARD FOR SHORT FICTION. AND WHEN HARCOURT BRACE PUBLISHED HER FIRST COLLECTION OF STORIES IN 1955, IT HAD TO ORDER THREE PRINTINGS TO KEEP UP WITH DEMAND. FLANNERY WAS MEANT TO WRITE SHORT FICTION.

THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE SHORT STORY ARE PERFECTLY SUITED TO HER OVERALL WORLD VIEW, AND WHAT SHE ATTEMPTED TO ACHIEVE IN HER FICTION -- IMMEDIACY, BREVITY, AND YET WITHIN THAT IMMEDIACY AND WITHIN THAT BREVITY, AN ENTIRE WORLD IS CAPTURED. THERE WAS A SENSE THAT IT WAS A NATURAL KIND OF MEDIUM FOR HER. THERE'S ALWAYS THIS IDEA OF WRITING THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL, AND THERE WERE MANY OF THEM PUBLISHED IN HER TIME. RALPH ELLISON'S "INVISIBLE MAN," "CATCHER IN THE RYE," THESE WERE ALL MALE NOVELISTS DOING THIS CANONIC FORM.

IN A SENSE, SHE FELT A KIND OF COMFORT IN WORKING IN THIS OTHER TERRITORY. ONE OF THE QUALITIES THAT READERS COULDN'T IGNORE WAS HER ABILITY TO DEPICT A FICTIONAL WORLD AS VIVID AS ANY FOUND IN MODERN LITERATURE. IN FACT, WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT FLANNERY HERSELF, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THEY DESCRIBE IS HER GAZE, HER PENETRATING, STEELY-EYED GAZE. AND SHE HAD A WAY OF CAPTURING THE VISIBLE THAT WAS JUST FANTASTIC.

YOU SEE THE WORLD THAT SHE DESCRIBES. HER WORK, IN MANY WAYS, IS ACTUALLY QUITE CINEMATIC, BECAUSE IT'S A WORLD THAT MOVES AND IT'S FULL OF IMAGERY. O'CONNOR HAS ONE STORY THAT IS JUST SO FUNNY. THE SUN IS SHINING AND IT'S JUST BURNING YOU UP.

THE WAY THINGS APPEAR PHYSICALLY, THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE THAT IS STILL ALIVE IN A WAY THAT IT'S NOT IN THE FICTION OF PEOPLE WHO ARE IN CITIES. O'CONNOR, WHO WOULD OFTEN WORK ON PORTRAITS IN HER SPARE TIME, RECOGNIZED A CLEAR LINK BETWEEN HER HOBBY AND HER CAREER. SHE ONCE WROTE, "I KNOW A GOOD MANY FICTION WRITERS WHO PAINT, NOT BECAUSE THEY'RE ANY GOOD AT PAINTING, BUT BECAUSE IT HELPS THEIR WRITING. IT FORCES THEM TO LOOK AT THINGS." IF O'CONNOR'S KEEN EYE WAS A VITAL PART OF HER WRITING, SO TOO WAS HER EAR FOR THE SUBTLETIES OF SOUTHERN SPEECH.

King

IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH, YOU CAN IDENTIFY PROBABLY 50 DIFFERENT DIALECTICAL PATTERNS IN WHAT WE CALL THE SOUTHERN IDIOM, AND OF COURSE, FLANNERY'S PARTICULAR IDIOM IS EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA, AND SHE CAPTURES PERFECTLY NOT JUST WHAT PEOPLE SAY, BUT HOW THEY SAY IT -- THE RHYTHMS, THE CADENCE, THE GRAMMATICAL NUANCES. SHE CAPTURES ALL OF IT. THERE IS A WONDERFUL LINE, FOR EXAMPLE, IN "A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND," WHERE THE MISFIT SAYS OF THE GRANDMOTHER, "SHE WOULD OF BEEN A GOOD WOMAN IF IT HAD BEEN SOMEBODY THERE TO SHOOT HER EVERY MINUTE OF HER LIFE." THE USE OF "OF" INSTEAD OF "HAVE," THE USE OF "IT" INSTEAD OF "THERE," THOSE ARE SUBTLE EXAMPLES, BUT AGAIN THEY CAPTURE PERFECTLY. YOU FEEL AS THOUGH YOU'RE ACTUALLY LISTENING TO A REAL PERSON SPEAK.

I KNOW, EVEN IN WRITING PROGRAMS, THAT'S WHAT THEY TELL YOU, "YOU DO NOT WANT TO USE ANY DIALECT. YOU WANT TO USE STRAIGHT STANDARD ENGLISH. TO DEVIATE FROM THAT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA," AND SOUTHERN WRITERS TEND TO PAY THAT NO MIND.

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IN O'CONNOR'S HEAVY USE OF REGIONAL SPEECH, ALONG WITH HER FLARE FOR THE MACABRE, SHE INEVITABLY DREW COMPARISONS TO WILLIAM FAULKNER, ONE OF HER LITERARY HEROES.

Gooch

SHE WAS IN HIS TERRITORY, AND ALSO DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT. SHE WAS A POST-WAR SOUTHERN WRITER, AND THE WORLD THAT SHE'S PORTRAYING IS DIFFERENT THAN THE SOUTH OF FAULKNER, WHICH IS STILL A KIND OF ANTEBELLUM HANGOVER, IN A WAY. AND WITH HER, IT'S A WORLD OF MOBILITY, OF CARS, OF FARMER POPULATIONS MIGRATING TO THE CITIES.

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BUT O'CONNOR INSISTED THAT THE REGIONAL ASPECT OF HER WORK WAS ONLY THERE TO FACILITATE A MORE IMPORTANT GOAL. LIKE ANOTHER OF HER MAJOR INFLUENCES, THE NEW ENGLANDER NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, SHE WANTED HER WORK TO ILLUMINATE DEEPER, SPIRITUAL TRUTHS ABOUT MANKIND. IT WAS A FICTION THAT EXPLORED SOMETHING SHE CALLED THE LIMITS OF MYSTERY. "I'M INTERESTED IN THE OLD ADAM," SHE TOLD AN INTERVIEWER.

"HE JUST TALKS SOUTHERN BECAUSE I DO." SHE HAD A NUMBER OF THINGS IN COMMON WITH JESUS, BUT ONE OF THEM WAS SHE TOLD STRANGE AND SURPRISING AND UNSETTLING STORIES. IN A SENSE, SHE IS CONTINUING JESUS' WORK OF TELLING PARABLES TO THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD. THE FACT THAT O'CONNOR'S WORK KEPT ONE FOOT FIRMLY IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM WAS NO ACCIDENT, HOWEVER. THE WOMAN WHO LIGHTHEARTEDLY REFERRED TO HERSELF AS "HILLBILLY" BECAME ONE OF THE MOST THEOLOGICALLY ASTUTE WRITERS OF THE 20th CENTURY.

SHE STUDIED DOZENS OF CONTEMPORARY SPIRITUAL WRITERS, DEVELOPING A PARTICULAR FONDNESS FOR TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, WHO SOUGHT TO BRING EVOLUTIONARY THEORY AND CHRISTIAN FAITH INTO HARMONY. AND EACH NIGHT BEFORE BED, SHE CLAIMED TO READ 20 MINUTES OF ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. "I READ A LOT OF THEOLOGY BECAUSE IT MAKES MY WRITING BOLDER," SHE ONCE EXPLAINED.

Gooch

WHEN YOU GO TO ANDALUSIA, YOU SEE, IN A KIND OF METAFICTION, THE SETTINGS OF A LOT OF HER STORIES. AS MUCH AS SHE MIGHT DENY IT, SHE WORKED FROM LIFE IN THIS SETTING AROUND HER. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE BARN AND THE HAYLOFT, YOU SEE, "OH, THAT'S WHERE THE BIBLE SALESMAN STOLE JOY HULGA'S LEG." OR THE MILK SHED, "OH, THAT'S WHERE ASBURY SMOKED THE CIGARETTES WITH THE WORKERS." SO ALL THESE, IF YOU CAN'T SEE THE -- YOU CAN'T WALK AROUND THE FARM, LIKE THIS DISNEYLAND OF HIGH LITERATURE, WITHOUT SEEING THESE STORIES UNFOLDING. SO ALL THAT WAS PRESENT FOR HER ON THAT FARM.

AND THE GENIUS OF HER, IN A WAY, WAS TO DISCOVER HER MATERIAL IN THAT FARM. THE REST OF US MIGHT BE FORCED HOME WITH LUPUS AND SULK FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES. O'CONNOR TURNED IT INTO GREAT LITERATURE, AND WE KNOW THAT IN ITSELF IS ADMIRABLE AND FASCINATING.

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THAT O'CONNOR WAS EVEN ABLE TO PURSUE HER WRITING CAREER WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT HER MOTHER'S STEADY PRESENCE. IT WAS REGINA WHO SIMULTANEOUSLY RAN THE HOUSEHOLD AND MANAGED DAIRY OPERATIONS ON THE FARM, ALLOWING FLANNERY TO FOCUS HER ATTENTION ON A CRAFT THAT PAID RELATIVELY LITTLE. THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO O'CONNOR'S CAREER WAS HER OWN AILING BODY. WHILE MEDICAL TREATMENT HAD PREVENTED ANY MAJOR FLARE-UPS FROM LUPUS, SHE CONTINUED TO SUFFER DISCOMFORT AND SEVERE FATIGUE.

AND IN 1954, A WEAKENING OF HER HIP BONE, LIKELY THE RESULT OF LUPUS, FORCED HER TO RELY ON CRUTCHES. WITH HER ENERGY WANING BY THE AFTERNOON, SHE KEPT A RIGID SCHEDULE THAT MAXIMIZED THE FEW PRODUCTIVE HOURS SHE HAD EACH DAY. SHE HAD A VERY SET ROUTINE FROM DAY TO DAY AT ANDALUSIA. THE DAY WOULD BEGIN WITH MASS IN TOWN AT SACRED HEART CHURCH.

SHE AND HER MOTHER, REGINA, WOULD THEN RETURN TO ANDALUSIA, HAVE BREAKFAST. REGINA WOULD GO AND WORK ON THE FARM. ANDALUSIA WAS A WORKING DAIRY FARM, AND REGINA OVERSAW ALL THE OPERATIONS, AND FLANNERY WOULD WRITE.

Session

SHE SAT DOWN EVERY DAY AND WORKED.

00 TO 11

00, AND SHE SAID THE REASON IS VERY SIMPLE. "I SIT DOWN AND WRITE FOR TWO HOURS. A LOT OF IT IS JUNK AND IT'S MISERABLE, BUT WHEN THE DAY COMES AND IT'S NOT JUNK, I'M HERE." IN OTHER WORDS, "I'M WORKING."

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O'CONNOR WOULD SOAK UP INSPIRATION WHEREVER SHE COULD, FROM NEWSPAPER ARTICLES OR LOCAL GOSSIP.

Man

WELL, MY PERSONAL THEORY IS THAT FLANNERY STAYED AT HOME AND DID THE WRITING, AND THAT HER MOTHER DID MOST OF THE INTERACTING WITH THE COMMUNITY. I'VE HAD A FAIR NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE LOCAL SAY THAT THEY HAVE MUCH MORE VIVID MEMORIES OF REGINA THAN THEY HAVE OF FLANNERY O'CONNOR. IN MY IMAGINATION, DINNER TIME EVERY NIGHT, WHEN REGINA WOULD TELL FLANNERY ABOUT REGINA'S DAY, THAT'S CRUCIAL TO FLANNERY'S WRITING, THAT SHE MUST HAVE SPONGED UP A LOT OF HER MOTHER'S DETAILS AND HER OPINIONS, AND IT GOT RE-WORKED INTO THE FICTION.

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WHILE THE BUCOLIC SETTING HELPED GIVE HER FICTION ITS UNIQUE SENSIBILITY, O'CONNOR WAS ALSO KEEN TO EXPAND HER SOCIAL AND INTELLECTUAL REACH BEYOND THE LIMITS OF ANDALUSIA. THROUGHOUT HER CAREER, SHE MAINTAINED AN ACTIVE CORRESPONDENCE WITH A SMALL CIRCLE OF LITERARY FRIENDS, INCLUDING THE WOMAN WHO HAD BECOME HER MENTOR, NOVELIST CAROLINE GORDON. SHE ALSO BECAME A FREQUENT GUEST AT AUTHOR BRAINARD CHENEY'S RETREAT OUTSIDE NASHVILLE, A LIVELY GATHERING PLACE FOR SOUTHERN LUMINARIES LIKE KATHERINE ANNE PORTER, EUDORA WELTY, AND WALKER PERCY. THE OTHER MISTAKE THAT PEOPLE MAKE IS THAT O'CONNOR LIVED A KIND OF RECLUSIVE LIFE OF AN INVALID, AND THAT IS NOT TRUE.

SHE IS NOT THE EMILY DICKINSON OF MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA. FLANNERY O'CONNOR HAD AN ACTIVE LIFE, BUT IT WAS A LIFE LIVED IN MANY WAYS LIKE A RELIGIOUS VOCATION. AND IN FACT, I THINK SHE SAW IT THAT WAY. BY THE MID-50s, O'CONNOR WAS, BY ALL APPEARANCES, ON THE TOP OF HER GAME.

IN 1957, CBS AIRED A DRAMATIZATION OF "THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN" STARRING GENE KELLY. THAT SAME YEAR, SHE WOULD BRING HOME THE O. HENRY PRIZE FOR "GREENLEAF," A STORY ABOUT A FARM OWNER TORN BETWEEN HER CHRISTIAN FAITH AND DESIRE FOR WORLDLY SUCCESS. THE FOLLOWING SPRING, SHE WOULD TAKE A TEMPORARY BREAK FROM WRITING FOR A TRIP TO EUROPE, A GIFT FLANNERY ACCEPTED, BEGRUDGINGLY, FROM HER COUSIN KATIE SEMMES.

A HIGHLIGHT OF THE VOYAGE WAS A STOP AT LOURDES, A FRENCH TOWN WHERE THE VIRGIN MARY WAS BELIEVED TO HAVE VISITED A PEASANT GIRL A CENTURY EARLIER. SINCE THE INITIAL APPARITION, PILGRIMS THE WORLD OVER IMMERSED THEMSELVES IN WATER FROM THE LOURDES GROTTO, BELIEVING IT POSSESSED HEALING PROPERTIES. AS DEVOUT AS SHE WAS, O'CONNOR WASN'T QUITE SURE. "I'M ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO COULD DIE FOR HIS RELIGION SOONER THAN TAKE A BATH FOR IT," SHE QUIPPED.

SHE DID TAKE THE PLUNGE, BUT ADMITTED PRAYING FOR HER SECOND NOVEL -- A PIECE THAT SHE HAD UNSUCCESSFULLY WORKED ON FOR YEARS -- MORE THAN FOR HER HEALTH. WHATEVER THE REASON, WHEN SHE RETURNED HOME, O'CONNOR EXPERIENCED POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS ON BOTH FRONTS. HER HIP BEGAN TO RE-CALCIFY, ALLOWING HER TO WALK WITHOUT CRUTCHES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS. SHE ALSO OVERCAME THE LITERARY ROADBLOCKS HOLDING BACK HER BOOK, AND WITHIN MONTHS HAD A COMPLETED DRAFT.

THE RESULT WAS "THE VIOLENT BEAR IT AWAY," A STORY IN WHICH O'CONNOR, AS WITH "WISE BLOOD," PRESENTS A CHRIST-HAUNTED PROTAGONIST WRESTLING WITH HIS OWN DOUBT. RAISED BY HIS GREAT-UNCLE, A SELF-STYLED PROPHET, 14-YEAR-OLD FRANCIS TARWATER BECOMES CONVINCED OF HIS OWN SPIRITUAL CALLING. BUT WITH HIS UNCLE'S DEATH, THE TEEN ENCOUNTERS FORCES INTENT ON PULLING HIM IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION. WHILE O'CONNOR WOULD CITE CATHOLICISM AS THE MAIN FORCE BEHIND HER FICTION, THE WORLD SHE CREATED IN THIS SECOND NOVEL, AND IN MUCH OF HER CANON, IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE PROTESTANT FUNDAMENTALISM SHE SAW AROUND HER IN THE DEEP SOUTH.

SHE HAD A LOT OF RESPECT FOR HER PROTESTANT NEIGHBORS. SHE KNEW THIS CULTURE JUST AS WELL AS ANYONE ELSE. I THINK HER BEING CATHOLIC GAVE HER A LITTLE BIT OF PERSPECTIVE. IT PUSHED HER OUTSIDE OF THIS CULTURE.

IT PUT HER INTO A POSITION NOT IN THE MIDDLE, BUT JUST A LITTLE ASLANT TO THE CULTURE, AND I THINK IT HELPED HER TO SEE IT MORE CLEARLY AND TO HELP OTHERS UNDERSTAND THE SOUTH BETTER. IN 1960, THE WRITER RECEIVED ONE OF THE MOST UNUSUAL REQUESTS OF HER CAREER FROM A GROUP OF ATLANTA NUNS. THEY WANTED HER TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT A YOUNG CANCER PATIENT THEY HAD CARED FOR WHO, DESPITE HER UNSIGHTLY FACIAL TUMOR, LIVED FOR 12 YEARS WITH A REMARKABLE INNER RADIANCE. O'CONNOR, ALWAYS WARY ABOUT STORIES AIMED AT THE HEARTSTRINGS, INITIALLY BALKED.

EVENTUALLY SHE DID AGREE TO WRITE THE INTRODUCTION, EVEN OFFERING THE SISTERS A PAIR OF PEACOCKS IF THEY WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET THE BOOK PUBLISHED. AS IT HAPPENED, O'CONNOR HAD A UNIQUE CONNECTION TO THE PROJECT. THE SISTERS WHO CARED FOR THE LITTLE GIRL WERE FOUNDED BY ROSE HAWTHORNE, THE DAUGHTER OF HER HERO, NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. IN HER PREFACE, SHE DRAWS ON HAWTHORNE'S STORY "THE BIRTHMARK," ABOUT A SCIENTIST OBSESSED WITH PERFECTING HIS WIFE'S APPEARANCE, TO MAKE A COMPELLING STATEMENT ABOUT THE TRUE NATURE OF BEAUTY.

O'CONNOR'S OWN LONG-TIME EDITOR, ROBERT GIROUX, AGREED TO PUBLISH THE MEMOIR OF MARY ANN, BASING HIS DECISION LARGELY ON THE MOVING PREFACE. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, THE WRITER MADE GOOD ON HER WAGER, SENDING TWO OF HER PEACOCKS NORTH TO ATLANTA. MARY ANN WAS A CHILD THAT THE WORLD WOULD HAVE DESCRIBED AS HIDEOUS, GROTESQUE, AND SHE WAS IN FACT TERRIBLY DEFORMED. BUT O'CONNOR KNEW, LIKE HAWTHORNE KNEW, THAT THE MEASURE OF SOMEONE'S BEAUTY IS NOT WHAT WE SEE SUPERFICIALLY.

IT'S NOT THE PHYSICAL, BUT IT'S THE INTERIOR. AND MARY ANN WAS IN FACT A BEAUTIFUL HUMAN BEING. THOUGH O'CONNOR'S STATURE WITHIN THE LITERARY WORLD SEEMED MORE SOLID THAN EVER, HER FLOURISHING CAREER WASN'T ENTIRELY FREE OF CONTROVERSY. IN PARTICULAR, SHE FACED THE CRITICISM THAT HER STORIES, SOME FEATURING CHARACTERS WHO USED THE N-WORD, AT THE VERY LEAST LACKED RACIAL SENSITIVITY.

I THINK THAT SHE WAS CONFLICTED. I THINK THAT CERTAINLY ON THE SPIRITUAL LEVEL, SHE UNDERSTOOD THE UNITY AND THE ONENESS OF ALL, AND THAT SHE UNDERSTOOD THE NEED FOR GRACE. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THERE WERE SO MANY SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THINGS GOING ON THAT THEY PULLED AT HER, AND THAT THEY CAUSED HER TO RESPOND IN WAYS THAT SEEMED TO BE, FOR NO OTHER WORD, RACIST. USUALLY, SHE'S JUST CAPTURING THE WAY PEOPLE SPEAK, AND THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR HER.

IT'S THE WAY PEOPLE LOOK AND THE WAY PEOPLE ACTUALLY SPEAK. THAT GETS INCREASINGLY HARD TO LISTEN TO SOMETIMES NOW. AS RACIAL TENSIONS EXPLODED THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH, THE WRITER WOULD REMAIN AN ENIGMATIC FIGURE WHEN IT CAME TO CIVIL RIGHTS. HER STORIES OFTEN SATIRIZED INTOLERANCE AND, PRIVATELY, SHE EXPRESSED VIEWS THAT WERE MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN MOST WHITE GEORGIANS OF HER DAY.

HOWEVER, SHE WAS ALSO RELUCTANT TO ROCK THE BOAT. IN 1961, SHE FINALLY TOOK THE ISSUE HEAD-ON IN "EVERYTHING THAT RISES MUST CONVERGE," A STORY THAT WOULD WIN HER ANOTHER O. HENRY AWARD. WITH MOST OF THE ACTION TAKING PLACE ON A RECENTLY INTEGRATED CITY BUS, THE NARRATIVE EVOKED THE MOMENTOUS ROSA PARKS INCIDENT A FEW YEARS EARLIER.

IN A HUMOROUS TWIST, AN OLD-FASHIONED WHITE WOMAN FINDS HERSELF WEARING THE SAME GREEN AND PURPLE HAT AS A BLACK PASSENGER, INSTANTLY UNDERCUTTING HER AIR OF PRETENSION. DESPITE ITS CLEVER MESSAGE ABOUT RACIAL HARMONY, HOWEVER, THE PIECE WASN'T ENTIRELY ONE-SIDED. IF O'CONNOR TAKES AIM AT THE BIGOTRY OF THE LEAD FEMALE CHARACTER, SHE'S EQUALLY SUSPICIOUS OF THE WOMAN'S PROGRESSIVE SON, WHO THROUGHOUT THE RIDE REVELS IN HIS MOTHER'S HUMILIATION. THEREFORE, SOME INTERPRET THE STORY AS A SIMULTANEOUS ATTACK ON RACIAL BIAS, AS WELL AS WHAT SHE PERCEIVED AS THE SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS OF NORTHERNERS ASSERTING THEIR WILL OVER THE SOUTH.

SHE TELLS A STORY, WHEN SHE WAS GOING ON THE BUS TO ATLANTA TO GO BACK TO IOWA CITY FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL, THAT THE BUS DRIVER TOLD THESE BLACK PEOPLE TO GO TO THE BACK OF THE BUS. AND O'CONNOR SAID, "AT THAT MOMENT, I BECAME AN INTEGRATIONIST." SO IN 1948, SHE'S AN INTEGRATIONIST. SO YOU GET TO THE EARLY '60s THEN, LATE '50s, EARLY '60s, AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, AND FRIENDS OF O'CONNOR ARE COMING TO THE SOUTH ON FREEDOM RIDES AND MARCHES, AND THERE IS THIS MOVEMENT FOR INTEGRATION. THEN O'CONNOR DECIDES TO BECOME SORT OF COMPLEX ABOUT THE ISSUE.

IT'S A SENSE THAT SHE IS ALWAYS ANNOYED BY WHEN PEOPLE ARE SMUG ABOUT THEIR OPINIONS. THE FACT THAT O'CONNOR WAS STILL WRITING MORE THAN A DECADE AFTER HER ALARMING LUPUS DIAGNOSIS IN 1951 DEFIED ALL THE ODDS. BY 1963, THAT GOOD FORTUNE WOULD START TO RUN OUT. THE WRITER BEGAN SUFFERING FROM FATIGUE AND DIZZY SPELLS, A CONDITION DOCTORS EVENTUALLY ATTRIBUTED TO A FIBROID TUMOR.

HOWEVER, THE OPERATION TO REMOVE IT THE FOLLOWING WINTER RESULTED IN A TRAGIC SIDE EFFECT, HER BIGGEST FLARE-UP OF LUPUS IN YEARS. WITH THE DISEASE THAT SHE CALLED "THE WOLF" NOW ROARING BACK, FLANNERY O'CONNOR CHECKED INTO PIEDMONT HOSPITAL IN ATLANTA FOR A SERIES OF BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS AND CORTISONE SHOTS. WHILE TAKING A DEVASTATING TOLL ON HER BODY, THE INTENSE TREATMENTS ALSO SEEMED TO STIR HER IMAGINATION. STILL IN THE HOSPITAL, SHE SET TO WORK ON "JUDGMENT DAY," A REWORKING OF HER FIRST PUBLISHED STORY, "THE GERANIUM." SHE ALSO WROTE A DRAFT FOR THE STARTLING "PARKER'S BACK," HIDING THE MANUSCRIPT UNDER HER PILLOW TO ELUDE THE MEDICAL STAFF.

O'CONNOR ENDURED WHAT SHE HAD TO ENDURE, AND AS A RESULT, I THINK HER WRITING WAS BETTER BECAUSE OF IT. THE AUTHOR, NOW STEADILY GROWING WEAKER, WOULDN'T LIVE TO SEE THE COMPOSITIONS IN PRINT. ON AUGUST 3, 1964, MARY FLANNERY O'CONNOR SUCCUMBED TO KIDNEY FAILURE AT THE AGE OF 39. O'CONNOR'S FINAL TWO STORIES WOULD BECOME PUBLIC THE SUBSEQUENT YEAR, WHEN HER SECOND COLLECTION OF SHORT FICTION WAS RELEASED TO RAVE REVIEWS.

SEVEN YEARS LATER, O'CONNOR'S "COMPLETE STORIES" WOULD WIN THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD, FURTHER CEMENTING HER PLACE IN AMERICAN LITERATURE. IN THE YEARS SINCE HER PASSING, THE GEORGIAN'S WORK HAS CONTINUED TO ATTRACT DEVOTED FOLLOWERS, NOT ONLY IN THE U.S., BUT WORLDWIDE. TO DATE, HER STORIES HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED INTO MORE THAN 20 LANGUAGES, A TESTAMENT TO THE UNIVERSAL THEMES SHE WAS WILLING TO TAKE ON. O'CONNOR WOULD ALSO HELP LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR A NEW GENERATION OF STORYTELLERS INSPIRED BY HER PENETRATING, DARKLY COMICAL WORK.

INDEED, HER INFLUENCE HAS SPREAD BEYOND THE WORLD OF LITERATURE, WITH ARTISTS SUCH AS BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND FILMMAKERS JOEL AND ETHAN COEN ACKNOWLEDGING A DEBT TO THE OFFBEAT SOUTHERNER. PEOPLE ARE FASCINATED BY THE FACT THAT SHE WAS TRULY TOUCHED WITH GENIUS. IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, SHE WAS ONLY 39 YEARS OLD WHEN SHE DIED. AND AS A YOUNG WOMAN, AT HER DEATH, SHE LEFT BEHIND WHAT I WOULD DESCRIBE AS ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE COLLECTIONS OF SHORT FICTION IN AMERICAN LITERATURE.

BUT MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, I THINK PEOPLE READ FLANNERY O'CONNOR BECAUSE OF MYSTERY. I THINK THAT O'CONNOR HAD A GIFT FOR EXPLAINING OR EXHIBITING TO READERS THE POSSIBILITY FOR GRACE IN THE WORLD, THE PERSISTENCE OF MYSTERY EVEN IN EVERYDAY LIFE. AND THAT'S A MESSAGE I THINK THE WORLD CONTINUES TO NEED TO HEAR.