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The Complete Stories
The Complete Stories
Author: Flannery O'Connor
Winner of the National Book Award — The publication of this extraordinary volume firmly established Flannery O'Connor's monumental contribution to American fiction. There are thirty-one stories here in all, including twelve that do not appear in the only two story collections O'Connor put together in her short lifetime--Everything That ...  more »and A Good Man Is Hard to Find.

O'Connor published her first story, "The Geranium," in 1946, while she was working on her master's degree at the University of Iowa. Arranged chronologically, this collection shows that her last story, "Judgement Day"--sent to her publisher shortly before her death—is a brilliantly rewritten and transfigured version of "The Geranium." Taken together, these stories reveal a lively, penetrating talent that has given us some of the most powerful and disturbing fiction of the twentieth century. Also included is an introduction by O'Connor's longtime editor and friend, Robert Giroux.
ISBN-13: 9780374127527
ISBN-10: 0374127522
Publication Date: 1/1/1971
Pages: 572
Rating:
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
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5 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 6
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reviewed The Complete Stories on + 17 more book reviews
This collection of stories by Flannery O'Connor provides the reader with a good sense of O'Connor's development as a writer. The anthology is presented in chronological order. Those familiar with the author's novel "Wise Blood" will find the early versions of chapters from this novel, published as short stories.

The book begins with the short story "The Geranium", one of her earliest works, and ends with "The Judgement", a retelling of the story which reflects her fully developed literary style. In "The Geranium" the ending is subtle, reflective. In "The Judgement" it is shocking and violent, as we had by then come to expect from O'Connor.

Whether you love her or hate her, it is certain that Flannery O'Connor will leave you forever changed, viewing life's common events as scenes in a complex moral drama where people are never really what they seem to be on the surface. O'Connor had a genius for making the ordinary turn to extraordinary and shocking in an instant.
reviewed The Complete Stories on
A "must-have" for those who love Flannery O'Connor!


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