Name: A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories
Rating: 3.783783783783784 (74 reviews)
ISBN: 9780358139560

Flannery O'Connor

With a new introduction from New York Times best-selling author Lauren Groff, these classic stories established Flannery O'Connor's reputation as one of the American masters of the short story.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories

Presents a chronology of the life of author Flannery O'Conner, comments and letters by the author about the story, and a series of ten critical essays by noted authors about her work.

"A Good Man is Hard to Find"

Greg Talbot

For a thirty page short story, it's surprising just how shocking "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" is. It's title doesn't hint at the darkness inside, the old-school Catholicism perspective of it's writer, the brutal repercussions of grace, and the level of subtlety in her symbolism. The critical essays explore the thinly veined layers of the stories, and frankly just how much textual analysis can be delivered on this seemingly straight forward story. One thing I really enjoyed so with O'Connor's writing how there are subtle shifts of perspective on her characters. For instance, there are so many passages about the micro changes of the grandmother's comfort in the car "she was the first one in the car, ready to go" (p.12), "the old lady settled herself comfortably, removing her white cotton gloves (p.13); "took cat naps and woke up every few minutes with her own snoring" (p.38). She uses a very fine brush of detail to capture the way they feel about their trip to Tennessee, and to each other. Once you take on the religious undertones of the book, it's very hard to unfasten them. Choices are made, by the family, straying from a known path, and they encounter a character that challenges their moral beliefs. Her refined, socially-conscious, manner to the world is threatened, by a misfit, a violent criminal in hiding, who comes across the beleaguered family at a car accident. The drama within the text is so potent and so shocking, that it really does twist so many conventional ideas about the moral worth of these character. O'Connor's writing, as described by a contributor in the novel, exemplify catholic worldviews that are well-hidden and expertly crafted. The essays are their own beast, and remind me that I never had the critical eye to be an english professor. Some of the essays are illuminating, and some are downright daffy - such as the essay on the cat Pitti-Sing. Having been the only short story i've read by O'Connor, I think i'll need to check out more of her short stories. Also, this one has me so wrapped up with it's ideas, i have a strong suspiscion i'll be returning to it for years to come.

A good man is hard to find and other stories.

Rebecca C Wright

Flannery O'Connor was a Goddess of the sublime. The main story in this book "A Good Man is Hard to Find" changed my life. I had never read any of the "southern" writers before this and after reading this story I couldn't wait to read more. Not for the faint of heart this collection really shows the power of O'Connor's writing and the conflict of good versus evil and the ambiguity that exists in a world where good and evil are not so easily defined.

Macy Johnson

Great story; nicely written of course, but also very tragic. Explores some interesting themes and ideas that really do make you think. Especially that conversation between the grandmother and the Misfit at the end. Wow. Crazy. I hated how it ended honestly but I knew going in, so that helped.

A good man is hard to find, and other stories

Andrew John Kinney

The namesake story is excellent, and well worth reading. The others less so in my opinion.

Ryan LaFerney

An exemplary short story collection that has become a classic. The stories are cinematic, dark, funny, deeply Catholic, violent, grotesque, shocking, and truthful to the bizarre realty of human nature. Sadly, Flannery O'Connor was a product of her times, and her overt racism can't be erased away. She is still one of my favorite writers for the way she paints a scene and for her use humor, and her sly eye. But, reader beware, yes these stories will make you chuckle. But a few will make you mighty uncomfortable too. 

Favorites: A Good Man is Hard to Find, Good Country People, The River, and The Temple of the Holy Ghost.

Faber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles. A family sets out on a road trip in the American South. The grandmother suggests they change course in order to avoid "The Misfit", an escaped convict who's reportedly heading towards Florida. But when their car turns over in a ditch, who should they flag down for help but the very man whose picture they recognise from the paper . . . Flannery O'Connor's famous fifties story evokes heat and dust, family and feuding, God and grace - and is utterly uncompromising in its brutality. Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.

Faber Stories

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

Hellboy TCR

It's abt 1950's racist America, it has some symbolism and religious undertones. Flannery's writing is sharp and deft. A nice intro to this writer's world, for me.

Chiyeung lau

What a masterpiece, O’Conner blew me away with each story. Even now, almost 60 years later, her stories are still culturally relevant and have something to teach us. But this was definitely not a light read, O’Conner packs so much meaning and symbolism in her shorts that its best to be read slowly.

Trever

I guess I just didn't love it as much as I wanted to. O'Connor knows how to write a story, but some of them weren't that interesting. The title story is not one of these, though. That one I had to read in one sitting.

Rjyan C Kidwell

There's 10 stories in O'Connor's A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND: in at least 8 of them the sun appears in a sickly or otherwise denigrated form. I think you could make a good argument that most of O'Connor's stories are Dying Earth stories.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories

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