In this study Frederick Asals explores the dualities that inform the entire body of Flannery O'Connor's fiction. From the almost unredeemable world of Wise Blood to the climatic moment of revelation that infuse The Violent Bear It Away and Everything That Rises Must Converge, O'Connor's novels and stories wrestle with extremes of faith and reason, acceptance and revolt; they arch between cool narrative and explosive action, between a sacramental vision and primary intuition of reality.
Anything worthwhile Asals has to say is drowned out by his insistence that O’Connor owes her brilliance to having read Nathanael West and Poe. Give me a break.