Flannery O'Connor Book Club

The Southern Gothic fiction of short-story master Flannery O'Connor is perfect reading for Halloween. Her fiction centers on family tensions that turn toward darkness — vivid, macabre, and deathy.

Like the plays of Sophocles, O’Connor’s fictional ironies are not just dramatic — they are cosmic. It’s a southern fricassee: a hilarious, savage but always delicious stew of misfits on the lam, faith healers, missing limbs, racial tension, shady Bible salesmen, feral children, feckless parents, stolen cars, car accidents, renegade priests, noisy peacocks, sacrificial bulls, and, of course, the inevitable unwanted chifferobe, because it’s The South.

For the first six weeks of this class, we will dive deep into six of O’Connor’s masterpieces in the short story form. Then we will spend three weeks reading Wise Blood. Each week, we will provide original research about her life, the historical context of her work, and literary analysis of her talent. 

The books you need for this class are The Complete Stories and Wise Blood. Follow those links and get those editions if you want to have the same page numbers as everyone else during discussions.

INSTRUCTORS 

Brian Bouldrey is a professor of creative writing and literature at Northwestern University, where he has been teaching O'Connor's fiction for years. He is the author of 9 books of fiction and nonfiction.

Christopher Frizzelle is the former editor-in-chief of The Stranger and the founder of Frizzlit.

RECOMMENDED EDITIONS

The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor, and the novel Wise Blood.

If you purchase them using those links, a few cents go to FrizzLit — so thanks for that! Or find them at a library or bookstore near you.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE 

If you would like to join this class but price is a barrier, sponsorship funds are available to help make it possible. Please apply here.

THANK YOU FOR DONATING

Thank you to everyone who pitches in extra to support the FrizzLit community.

ART 

Splendidly illustrated by Kathryn Rathke