We have updated our Privacy Policy Please take a moment to review it. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the terms of our updated Privacy Policy.
The landscape of American literature was fundamentally changed when Flannery O’Connor stepped onto the scene with her first published book, Wise Blood, in 1952. Her fierce, sometimes comic novels and stories reflected the darkly funny, vibrant, and theologically sophisticated woman who wrote them.
Brad Gooch brings to life O’Connor’s significant friendships – with Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Hardwick, Walker Percy and James Dickey among others – and her deeply felt convictions, as expressed in her communications with Thomas Merton, Elizabeth Bishop, and Betty Hester. Hester was famously known as ‘A’ in O’Connor’s collected letters, The Habit of Being, and a large cache of correspondence to her from O’Connor was made available to scholars, including Brad Gooch, in 2006.
Brad Gooch brings to life O’Connor’s significant friendships – with Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Hardwick, Walker Percy and James Dickey among others – and her deeply felt convictions, as expressed in her communications with Thomas Merton, Elizabeth Bishop, and Betty Hester. Hester was famously known as ‘A’ in O’Connor’s collected letters, The Habit of Being, and a large cache of correspondence to her from O’Connor was made available to scholars, including Brad Gooch, in 2006.
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
- TELEGRAPH 'Skilful in marshalling the often humdrum details of O'Connor's life into a readable narrative, Gooch has produced as good a biography as, perhaps, we're likely to get
IRISH TIMES
Gooch is a perceptive guide to O'Connor's work and life, which until now have remained hidden behind the fence of her mother's 550-acre farm, where O'Connor lived as a 'hermit novelist