Flannery O'Connor: Spiritual Writings

Modern Spiritual Masters

by Flannery O'Connor, Richard Giannone (Introduction), Robert Ellsberg (Editor)

Flannery OConnor (1925-1964) is widely regarded as one of the great American writers of the twentieth century. Only in 1979, however, with the publication of her collected letters, could the public fully see the depth of her personal faith and her wisdom as a spiritual guide. Drawing from all her work this anthology highlights as never before O?Connor?s distinctive voice as a spiritual writer, covering such topics as Christian Realism, the Church, the relation between faith and art, sin and grace, and the role of suffering in the life of a Christian.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Christianity, Theology, Catholic, Faith

173 pages, Paperback

First published May 18, 2003

About the author

Critics note novels Wise Blood (1952) and The Violent Bear It Away (1960) and short stories, collected in such works as A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955), of American writer Mary Flannery O'Connor for their explorations of religious faith and a spare literary style.

The Georgia state college for women educated O’Connor, who then studied writing at the Iowa writers' workshop and wrote much of Wise Blood at the colony of artists at Yaddo in upstate New York. She lived most of her adult life on Andalusia, ancestral farm of her family outside Milledgeville, Georgia.

O’Connor wrote Everything That Rises Must Converge (1964). When she died at the age of 39 years, America lost one of its most gifted writers at the height of her powers.

Survivors published her essays were published in Mystery and Manners (1969). Her Complete Stories , published posthumously in 1972, won the national book award for that year. Survivors published her letters in The Habit of Being (1979). In 1988, the Library of America published Collected Works of Flannery O'Connor, the first so honored postwar writer.

People in an online poll in 2009 voted her Complete Stories as the best book to win the national book award in the six-decade history of the contest.

Reviews

[Greta Valentine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had made a concerted effort to read Flannery O'Connor when an acquaintance recommended her to me 10 years ago. However, this book met me at the perfect time in my life, and offered frank insight on matters of faith, grace, redemption, and life as a writer. If I could make people think about half as much as she does with her unapologetic but humorous descriptions and obvious understanding of how faith operates, I would consider my vocation fulfilling. I will be working through the rest of her writings now, and consider this an exceptional entry point for me - almost a mentor-in-writing.

[Willie Krischke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since I named my daughter after Flannery O'Connor, friends and family have asked me why, and what of hers they should read. And I never know what to say. The odd, gothic stories? Well, I love them, but they horrified my poor mother. The letters? I loved them even more than the stories...but who reads letters (well, me, for one, but not many.) The novels? Yikes.

This book absolutely fills that need...it gathers, from the stories, the novels, the letters, the essays, bits and pieces of Ms. O'Connor that make her one of my favorite and most cherished authors. Here you can get a real sense of her faith, her perspective, her intelligence, and her personality.

Flannery O'Connor has influenced my own walk with God, and understanding of the world, especially the literary world, more than anyone except perhaps C.S. Lewis. Everything in this book can be found elsewhere, but it makes a great Flannery O'Connor primer for those more interested in her philosophy and religious views than in her art.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many authors I've read have quoted O'Connor that when this book appeared on the end display in my library, I snatched it. I've been more curious about Flannery O'Connor herself than I have been about her fiction which I have yet to read. (gasp) I'm also a bit of a geek for writer's diaries, memoirs, letters--I read most of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's diaries when I was raising my own children.
Suffice it to say, I was not disappointed--keen wit, pragmatic wisdom, and solid Catholic faith were bracing, snort funny, and deeply meaningful. I'm so glad I read it. A treasure.
Now, to add her fiction, once again to my lists.

[Claire Raabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I don’t know what my prayer intentions are, but I try to say that whatever suits the Lord suits me.”

Flannery’s response to someone condescendingly saying “Bless you, darling!” after seeing her on her crutches due to her lupus: “the lame shall enter first. This may be because the lame will be able to knock everybody else aside with their crutches.”

“I can, with one eye squinted, count it all as blessing.”

“I am going to be the World Authority on Peafowl, and I hope to be offered a chair some day at the Chicken College.”

Flannery is witty, unapologetic, jolting, brilliant, and devoutly committed to knowing Christ in the context of the Church. I love her, I just love her!!!

[Justin Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read most of Flannery O' Connor's fiction, which I really enjoyed. This book was an interesting compilation of letters, excerpts from her short stories and novels, and essays about her Catholic faith, her rituals for writing and advice on writing, her struggle with lupus, love for the Eucharist, liturgy, peacocks, and for literature. I really admire her writing, and hope to see the place where she lived at in Georgia someday.

[Jake Moertl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This being the first of her writings I’ve read, there were pieces that linked to her earlier writings that made it a little harder to follow. A women full of wisdom at a young age before passing away, she writes with deep conviction and humility that makes me excited to continue reading her work.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short but wonderful collection for anyone who wants to become more familiar with O'Connor's understanding of life and spirituality. 25% of the book is the Introduction by Richard Giannone, which is actually pretty valuable for making sense of the rest of the book. The core is then organized into five sections, each a compilation of excerpts from letters, stories and novels:

1. Christian Realism (natural first, then supernatural; see the unseen in the seen)

2. Mother and Teacher (relationship to the Church)

3. Revelation (diversity among people, particularly Christians)

4. A Reason to Write (it's a gift, she's good at it)

5. The Province of Joy (largely about her decline in health and God's will, "passive diminishment")


I think it would be difficult to make sense of some of the excerpts if you haven't first become familiar with O'Connor's stories, but the letter excerpts are self-explanatory.

[Makenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book smacked me upside the head, so to speak. I had not read any of Flannery O'Connor's work, so I was unfamiliar with the themes but knew she was a fellow southerner and a devout Catholic. Her letters show so much wisdom, tempered with a good helping of sass. Her defenses of the faith are both raw and intellectual. This collection also includes excerpts from some of her novels and short stories, so if you are hoping to read those as well there are significant spoilers here. Her writing gave me a lot to think about and I can't wait to read more of her work.

[Leighann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This edition is truly a gift to O'Connor lovers. I think Ellsberg has chosen insightful writings that give readers a glimpse of who O'Connor was, what she wanted us to know about her fiction, her struggle being categorized as a "catholic" and "spiritual" writer, her impending illness, and of course her humor. And he's managed to do so in a small, portable volume. In my copy, I've underlined more places than not...it's a book I will read again and again.

[JD Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent welcome to the world of Flannery O’Connor and a window into her mind. Mostly a collection of her letters, this book helps you understand O’Connor in what she felt, believed and wrote. To anyone who (like me) initially struggled to grasp her short stories or is simply wanting to be introduced to her writing, this is a must read.

[Vince Eccles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was having a difficult time reading O'Connor's short stories. I didn't understand her points. I had always been aware of people loving her Catholic understanding. Now I understand her better. Wonderful little book to see inside the mind of an important American author.

[NDH]

I enjoy reading and re-reading these excerpts from Flannery O’Connor’s stories and letters, and I have no serious complaint about the editor’s selections or organization of those excerpts into the four categories he has chosen: Christian Realism, Mother and Teacher, A Reason to Write, and The Province of Joy. I think the book would benefit from a more extensive discussion of why each of these categories (and why not others), and of why these particular selections. But the book is fine as is. After all, it’s Flannery O’Connor! Including her short story, “Revelation” as a sort of mid-point to this collection likewise does no damage thereto, though one could likewise ask ‘Why that story and not another?’

I’m less certain that Flannery O’Connor belongs in this Maryknoll Fathers/Orbis Books series entitled “Modern Spiritual Masters”, along with 18 other luminaries, but if Sally Fitzgerald approved it, I suppose it’s all right. Normally, I’d give this a 5 rating.

Unfortunately, with SF’s death at age 83, the editor (Robert Ellsberg) had to find someone to write the Introduction, and he settled upon a Fordham University English professor (who shall remain unnamed) who reminds me of nothing so much as Mrs. Turpin (the “wart hog” from hell) of O’Connor’s “Revelation.” For a full 35 pages (nearly 20% of this slim volume) he blathers on with that empty academic gibberish in which 40 meaningless words are used in place of four well-chosen ones. I quote: “As part of her dialogue with the age, the entreaty for guidance to the region of joy reminds us that the modern era has seen much but that we have not really lived until, with Ruby, we are privileged to gaze into the ‘life-giving knowledge’ that the luminous starry field in the night sky has set before us.”
Pretentious gag-worthy rubbish, says I. I thought only third-rate Victorian chick-lit novelists wrote like that.

Or, how about his inane comparison in which Ms. O’Connor is presented as some kind of Ella Fitzgerald of the Written Word. He certainly loves to hear himself jabber. Good Lord this man knows how to waste my time! Were he seated across from me in a doctor’s waiting room, I’d likely be driven to the same kind of outburst that seized Mary Grace in “Revelation”. A phone book to the face maybe.

Thus, my non-rating of this book. The idiocy of the Introduction totally annuls the five thumbs up I give it for the O’Connor excerpts. I just hope none of my kids were ever exposed to this guy at Fordham.

As for the rest of this ‘Spiritual Masters’ series, I think I’ll forego that bit of self-flagellation.

[Lyndie Blevins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was attracted to this book because I want to know more about Flannery O’Connor

This book was about from excepts of O’Connors’ letters to several friends, Ellisberg gathers insight into the deep of her personal faith and wisdom as a spiritual guide.

Things I liked about this book these snippets of insights her me understand the faith at the core of who Flannery O’Connor was.

Why you should read this book To have a broader understanding of O’Connor’s works and to take advantage for yourself the spiritual guidance she writes for her friends. The book also insights for those who are writing Christian Fiction.

This book lived up to the back cover copy. The endorsements provide a good insight to the contents of the book.

[Courtney Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re intrigued by what you've heard of Flannery O'Connor, but a little concerned about how to handle an intense Southerner with an unpredictable sense of humor and a tendency to delve into dark places, the Modern Spiritual Masters Series is an excellent place to begin, with Flannery O’Connor: Spiritual Writings. The editor, Robert Ellsberg does a fine job juxtaposing excerpts from her fiction with selections from her personal correspondence to show what she’s aiming to create, and how she goes about it. He also situates her writing in relation to her context. It’s her vantage point at a specific moment in American history that makes her work important still....Read the full review at https://catholicreads.com/2019/05/14/...

[Caroline Fontenot · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what made me want to read this, considering I've actually never read anything by Flannery O'Connor. There were a few good lines in it, but overall it wasn't for me. The first 50 pages was a biography on O'Connor, and the majority of her letters (minus the excerpts from her novels), felt like constant defense of Catholicism and the Church, while pointing out what she so disagreed about with Protestantism. It was a lot of commentary on "the Catholic Novelist," which I just didn't know to expect so was pretty bored by.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was less a reading than a long conversation with a brilliant and holy woman who challenged me to recognize my life as a sacrament of love and grace to which i have been paying only mild attention, no matter how much more inclined I may be to that than many others.

I don’t want to speak of it as a book at all. It was a pilgrimage and a calling to finally give myself over. I don’t recommend this book. I dare you to read it.

[Cassie Freed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been on a theology kick lately, and through the whole time, I've slowly been reading this book, like an undercurrent. As Flannery is one of my favorite authors, reading excerpts of her letters, speeches, and stories, adds not only to m enjoyment of her writing, but to my understanding as well. Her faith is truly interwoven into everything she does, an inspiration for those of us who wish to make Christ the centerpiece in our own lives.

[Amy Walton · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second reading of this book, and it did not disappoint!

Many people don't realize how deeply spiritual Flannery O'Connor was. She was a very devout Catholic whose faith influenced her fictional stories. There are always lessons in them.

This book shares letters she wrote and excerpts from some of her books.

A brief but deeply moving and even humorous book!

[Shelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this with my church book club and it probably was a mistake reading it without having read any of Flannery's other writing. It seemed really disjointed.

[Josephine Mattia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spiritual Writings is a wonderful book compiled with responses and excerpts from stories O'Connor did in her lifetime. As a Catholic myself, the book was incredible from start to finish.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

OConnor’s writings are inspiring in their insight, but I didn’t totally understand the logic by which they were arranged in this collection.

[Joshua Burgess · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fair introduction to O’Connor’s thinking, but there’s nothing new here. Every excerpt is available in full in her other published works. So if you want to be introduced to O’Connor’s spirituality or even reacquaint yourself with her thinking, this is a fine place to start. But those seriously interested can probably move on to Mystery & Manners and The Habit of Being.

[Chris Plemmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully condensed read that captures the spirit behind O'Connor's life. Her continual rumination upon Grace and and it's affects upon humans will be stimulating to any reader wanting to consider the deep love that prompts God to pursue us in such a manner. The only discouraging thing is at least twice throughout the book in her correspondence she disparages the full of work of the cross, and makes the entrance into eternity dependent upon her work as well. For protestants, this is a wonderfully provocative work to stimulate our thoughts upon "by Grace alone" and for Catholics I pray they would follow her conception of grace to its most logical end.

[Moira · Rating 3 out of 5]

She's a firebrand of an old fashioned catholic. Yuo-chen hates this book because Flannery O'Connor looks like an old librarian, but for me the only negative is that I don't like stories with no plot. This book is filled with excerpts from her letters, so you never build up to anything. I like a lot of what she says, I think some of it doesn't stand up to time. She makes some good points about "the sea of faith"... where ignorant armies clash by night.

[Mitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredibly helpful for my understanding of Flannery, and my second time through it confirmed it as one of my favorite books. Before this book I considered her to be one of the funniest authors out there; now she is one of my favorites. Her characters are hilarious and familiar and have me laughing out loud frequently. Now which of her collections is up next?

[N.T. McQueen · Rating 5 out of 5]

We knew O'Connor was a gifted, profound storyteller but her writings and assertions as an apologist are equally impressive. Taken from letters, essays, and her own fiction, the sampling of spiritual writings reveal an erudite woman who discovered the link between faith and fiction. Even among her struggles with lupus, her positive and unwavering faith to God and the church is inspiring.

[Briannaheldt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was amazing! I LOVED reading Flannery's thoughts on God and religion. I highly recommend this!

[Jonathan]

None

[ltcomdata · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very Southern, very orthodox catholic writer. She has great insight in what it means to be a Catholic writer.