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A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories

Flannery O'Connor,

Lauren Groff (Introduction)

Start date: September 1, 2020

Finish date: September 30, 2020

Discussion: New School Classics- 1915-2005

Why we're reading this: September 2020 New School Group Read
[close] September 2020 New School Group Read

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New School Classics- 1915-2005

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What Members Thought

Aug 15, 2020 RJ - Slayer of Trolls rated it really liked it · review of another edition

O'Connor plumbs the depth of the human soul and readers are often uncomfortable with what they find within, yet there are also frequent moments of humor as well. She was prolific prior to her early demise, and many of her most notable works are her short stories. This collection is bookended by two of her best short stories although there isn't a dud in the batch. As usual, ratings for individual stories are below along with song lyrics that might be diverting or insightful.

A Good Man is Hard t ...more

30 likes · Like · see review

Mar 05, 2016 Michele rated it it was ok · review of another edition

My first O'Connor. She's a terrific writer -- dialog, description, evocation of a specific time and place, all fantastic -- but I did not encounter a single likable character in this entire book and all of the stories are unrelentingly grim. The title story in particular is deeply disturbing. She does drop in some humorous bits (the turnip-shaped cloud made me laugh, but then turnips are inherently funny), but otherwise the unpleasantness and gloom are unrelieved. I had to go watch videos of kit ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Feb 18, 2016 Joe rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow, wonderful collection of short stories by Flannery O'Conner. I truly enjoyed everyone of the stories. The dialogue and characters were very well developed and always led to an amazing and profound conclusion. I must say this was an outstanding Audible version with an excellent reader in Marguerite Gavin. Best read of the year so far. Check it out. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Oct 02, 2020 Heather L rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, short-stories, group-read, 2020

A great collection of short stories, though O’Connor seemed to have a knack of bringing to light the worst of humanity and human emotions. My advice is to space them out. Read only one or two a day, so as to stave off depression and feelings of being overwhelmed. You’ll enjoy them more.

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Nov 14, 2014 Nadine in NY Jones marked it as to-read

Shelves: short-stories

From a Mashable list of Memorable Short Stories ...

I've never read anything by her ... Might as well start here! ...more

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Mar 03, 2012 Jurate Stanaityte rated it really liked it

"Them the stories" are positively macabre. This collection is sick like Catholic murder would be. O'Connor is Fellini of the writings (if you saw "Nights of Cabiria" and got both sad and angered at it, you know what I mean). ...more

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Jun 27, 2008 Debra Harrison rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Aug 08, 2008 Kathy Jo rated it it was amazing

Jan 25, 2009 Judith rated it really liked it

Shelves: short-stories, fiction, comedy-humor, anthologies, 20th-century-literature, literature-american-southern, literature-american, american-south, gothic, lists-bloom-s-western-canon

1 like · Like

Oct 29, 2009 Cait rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, bloom-canon, classics, ucked-fay-up-way, short-stories, covers-i-love, warm-weather-reading, southern-gothic, read-in-2013, paired-reads-project