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<book id="48464">
  <title><![CDATA[A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories]]></title>
  <isbn><![CDATA[0151365040]]></isbn>
  <isbn13><![CDATA[9780151365043]]></isbn13>
    <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170355800m/48464.jpg</image_url>
    <work>
  <best_book_id type="integer">48464</best_book_id>
  <books_count type="integer">16</books_count>
  <default_description>&lt;div&gt;The collection that established O&amp;#8217;Connor&amp;#8217;s reputation as one of the american masters of the short story. The volume contains the celebrated title story, a tale of the murderous fugitive The Misfit, as well as &amp;#8220;The Displaced Person&amp;#8221; and eight other stories.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</default_description>
  <id type="integer">783228</id>
  <media_type nil="true"></media_type>
  <original_language_id type="integer" nil="true"></original_language_id>
  <original_publication_day type="integer" nil="true"></original_publication_day>
  <original_publication_month type="integer" nil="true"></original_publication_month>
  <original_publication_year type="integer">1955</original_publication_year>
  <original_title>A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories</original_title>
  <rating_dist>total:4741|5:2439|4:1620|3:538|2:106|1:38|</rating_dist>
  <ratings_count type="integer">4741</ratings_count>
  <ratings_sum type="integer">20539</ratings_sum>
  <reviews_count type="integer">6312</reviews_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">359</text_reviews_count>
</work>

  <average_rating><![CDATA[4.33]]></average_rating>
  <ratings_count><![CDATA[3691]]></ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count><![CDATA[261]]></text_reviews_count>
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48464.A_Good_Man_Is_Hard_to_Find_and_Other_Stories]]></url>
  <authors>
        <author id="22694">
      <name><![CDATA[Flannery O'Connor]]></name>
      <role><![CDATA[]]></role>
      <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22694.Flannery_O_Connor]]></url>
      <average_rating><![CDATA[4.30]]></average_rating>
      <ratings_count><![CDATA[17134]]></ratings_count>
      <text_reviews_count><![CDATA[1520]]></text_reviews_count>
    </author>
      </authors>
    <reviews start="1" end="20" total="6312">
    <review id="15216711">
    <user id="54697">
    <name><![CDATA[matt]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Newtonville, MA]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/54697-matt?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>10</votes>
  <sell_flag>false</sell_flag>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="america--f-k-yeah-" />
        <shelf name="fictions-of-the-big-it" />
        <shelf name="miniature" />
        <shelf name="shattering" />
        <shelf name="top-shelf" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Fri Feb 22 00:00:00 -0800 2002</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Feb 12 00:11:50 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Feb 12 00:17:58 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This stuff is twisted, sparse, clipped, dark, doomy, funny, dramatic, Southern, angry, sexy, super Catholic, death-haunted, maniacial, bizarre, possibly racist, apparently desperate, fatalistic, existential, dreary, ugly, fetid, frenzied, morbid, lax, stern, prepossessing, unforgiving, unrelenting, ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/15216711">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/15216711?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="7148776">
    <user id="436271">
    <name><![CDATA[Rochelle]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/436271-rochelle?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>5</votes>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Oct 02 10:26:50 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Oct 02 10:36:52 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Oh good lord. Someone said she made the south seem even creepier than it already was and i agree with a shudder. And my experience is that you can never really shake off these stories. She can create a character in five words that you will recognize instantly way, way down in your cerebellum--or may...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7148776">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7148776?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="9636803">
    <user id="375171">
    <name><![CDATA[Joseph]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Brighton, MA]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/375171-joseph?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
  <sell_flag>true</sell_flag>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[lovers of the written word]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Nov 27 21:03:40 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Dec 19 21:39:36 -0800 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[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 <em>A Good Man is Hard to Find</em> is a gem, masterfully polished and displayed by Ms. O'Connor.<br/><br/>This is, I think, the third or fourth time I've read through ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9636803">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9636803?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="8049329">
    <user id="291061">
    <name><![CDATA[Seth]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Cambridge, MA]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/291061-seth?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
  <sell_flag>false</sell_flag>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[fans of: tom waits/raymond carver/ernest hemingway/william faulkner]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Oct 21 20:03:15 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Aug 11 08:00:16 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[o'connor runs a funny path in her stories. the themes are a sort of crypto-southern gothic with spartan sentence structure and diction. but that is what gives them a piercing sense, as well: with everything so barren, a two-sentence description of the sun setting over barren branches of trees in fro...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8049329">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8049329?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="4789375">
    <user id="286088">
    <name><![CDATA[Fred]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Brooklyn, NY]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/286088-fred?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <sell_flag>false</sell_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Aug 19 20:05:19 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Aug 19 20:23:33 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[it's hard to know what to compare flannery o'connor's short stories to. the only thing that pops to mind and seems apt is the bible. these stories are biblical for a lot reasons -- for one, the prose, which is so masterfully written that it seems like the work of some unimpeachable deity. and also, ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4789375">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4789375?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="38304896">
    <user id="875719">
    <name><![CDATA[M.L.]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Philadelphia, PA]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/875719-m-l?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <sell_flag>false</sell_flag>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Fri Nov 21 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Nov 21 08:14:10 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Nov 21 08:28:39 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[AGM is one of those books that I had once read (parts of) out of obligation (English class), but now can read with intentionality.  I guess I can only say that my 15-year-old self was an illiterate little shit.  Short stories so often hinge on just one sentence or just one paragraph, that it's no su...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/38304896">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/38304896?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="68828012">
    <user id="2590547">
    <name><![CDATA[Evan]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Los Angeles, CA]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2590547-evan-snyder?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <sell_flag>false</sell_flag>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Aug 25 09:34:00 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Aug 25 10:25:53 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I wish I had gotten the addition with the &quot;other stories&quot; that I am seeing should have come with this from the other editions.  I was not really looking for critical essays to read on it, but was more interested in O'Connor's content.<br/><br/>However, since this is the edition that I fo...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68828012">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68828012?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="57984480">
    <user id="1389172">
    <name><![CDATA[Aaron]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1389172-aaron?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Sun May 31 15:59:47 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun May 31 15:59:58 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Some books inevitably become intertwined with context in which they were read. “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” is linked in my mind with an afternoon of listening to “The Last Waltz.” While the artistic goals of the two artists are ships in the night, there is some context of connection betwee...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57984480">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57984480?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="63363326">
    <user id="1358347">
    <name><![CDATA[Stefani]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Scarsdale, NY]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1358347-stefani?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <sell_flag>false</sell_flag>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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        <shelf name="fans-of-the-deep-south" />
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[Someone who considered marrying their cousin at one time...]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Jul 13 18:33:02 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Jul 15 12:51:45 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Flannery O'Connor has such a gift for writing short stories, I take back what I said about her after reading Wise Blood.  You know how some stories are so permeant to your senses, that you can almost smell the perfume the character is wearing or visualize the scene as if you were watching a movie?  ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63363326">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63363326?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="42848080">
    <user id="1899726">
    <name><![CDATA[Carly]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[San Antonio, TX]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1899726-carly?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
  <sell_flag>false</sell_flag>
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      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Feb 26 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Jan 12 18:24:40 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Feb 26 21:31:54 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[André made me read this, and it took me forever to do it, but he was right.  It's amazing.  She writes about ugly, ugly things in such a way that they are completely beautiful.  And usually heartbreaking.  Or sometimes they just give you this detached sad kind of feeling.  But it's always beautiful...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42848080">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42848080?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="38357731">
    <user id="1480438">
    <name><![CDATA[Jane]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Monterey Park, CA]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1480438-jane-gov?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <sell_flag>false</sell_flag>
  <spoiler_flag>true</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="short-stories" />
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Fri Nov 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Nov 21 20:47:36 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Nov 28 19:57:45 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This story breaks the classic short story rule of “don’t kill your characters off,” but does so in such a fresh and twisted way that it leaves me glued to my seat, staring at the empty words at the end.  Although religion is brought up, the author does not preach nor are there any indications ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/38357731">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/38357731?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="5990670">
    <user id="166920">
    <name><![CDATA[Joan Paulette]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Henderson, NV]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/166920-joan-paulette-dudley?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
  <sell_flag>false</sell_flag>
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        <shelf name="fiction" />
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Sep 10 09:46:12 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Sep 10 09:51:55 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This book haunts me. Her images and characters are so vivid, that I can recall them six years later as if I read this book yesterday says something of the power of masterfully crafted language. <br/><br/>Flannery O'Connor was devout Catholic, which made her a bit of an ousider in the Evangelical P...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5990670">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5990670?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="62427677">
    <user id="86846">
    <name><![CDATA[Emily]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Portland, OR]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/86846-emily?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <sell_flag>false</sell_flag>
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        <shelf name="read-in-2009" />
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Fri Jul 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Jul 06 20:40:29 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Jul 17 10:32:52 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Maybe it makes me a snob, but I have a strong visceral aversion to evaluating novels based on their topicality.  With certain reservations, and the knowledge that, of course, every piece of art is informed by and mired in historical context, I'm more or less with Ben Jonson: a truly fine piece of li...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62427677">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62427677?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="47432601">
    <user id="1187160">
    <name><![CDATA[Caitlin]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Clearwater, FL]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1187160-caitlin?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Feb 24 18:06:19 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Mar 03 13:53:58 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Her writing is so beautiful, yet it's also dark and disturbing. I love her economy of words; she says so much using a well-placed detail or by choosing one word over another. Not a wasted word anywhere. Most writers - myself included - can learn a lot from her.<br/><br/>The other thing that struck...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/47432601">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/47432601?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="23806084">
    <user id="852348">
    <name><![CDATA[Ann]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/852348-ann?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <sell_flag>false</sell_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Jun 05 15:59:12 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Aug 04 13:56:10 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I was blown away by O'Connor's flawed characters that came across so human, and so lost. I loved the story, &quot;A Good Man Is Hard to Find&quot; because it surprised me with violence, but didn't dwell in it too long. All of the stories stayed with me after I had finished reading the book. <br/>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/23806084?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="30044801">
    <user id="1378538">
    <name><![CDATA[EAK]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Evanston, IL]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1378538-eak?utm_medium=api]]></url>
  </user>
      <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <sell_flag>false</sell_flag>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Aug 13 10:52:05 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Aug 13 10:58:23 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[To be honest, I don't think this is the edition I read, so while I cannot comment on the collection as a whole, the title story is one of my all-time favorites. Wish I had 1% of the talent that Flannery O'Connor had. Southern writing at its best.]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30044801?utm_medium=api]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="66111399">
    <user id="2583327">
    <name><![CDATA[Louis]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Phoenix, AZ]]></location>        
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  <date_added>Tue Aug 04 01:13:36 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Aug 04 01:18:39 -0700 2009</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[I was watching the last episode of &quot;Lost&quot; this season and there was a reference to &quot;Everything that rises must converge&quot; by Flannery O'Connor.  So I went on a re-reading binge of her works.  I read them originally when I was very young, and I must say that life experience makes a...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/66111399">more...</a>]]></body>
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    <review id="58300678">
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    <name><![CDATA[Nigel]]></name>
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  <read_at>Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Jun 03 10:37:33 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Jul 12 16:37:34 -0700 2009</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[I like Flannery O'Connor's stories because they really, really have a feel to them, and you get the sense that there's an over-arching theme and unity to the characters she creates.  That said, I think the the thing that unifies the characters though is how completely *unlikeable* they all are.  Her...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/58300678">more...</a>]]></body>
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    <name><![CDATA[Dan]]></name>
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  <read_at>Mon Oct 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Oct 25 09:49:17 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Oct 25 09:51:25 -0700 2009</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[&quot;A Good Man is Hard to Find&quot; is a collection of short stories. O'Connor wrote that her writings explore &quot;the action of grace in territory largely held by the devil.&quot; These stories are not uplifting, but her writing is beautiful...in contrast to Faulkner almost too simple. In &quot;...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75672800">more...</a>]]></body>
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    <review id="52242942">
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    <name><![CDATA[Donna Jo]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Olathe, KS]]></location>        
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  <read_at>Fri Apr 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Apr 10 17:49:21 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Apr 10 17:59:09 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[These very southern short pieces (some of them are almost not stories, but little faded snapshots of a past way of life--or death) are not the most cheerful things I've ever read.  The first piece, which is also the book's title,is almost shocking in its casual violence.  The other stories are likew...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/52242942">more...</a>]]></body>
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