First published in 1969, this collection of Flannery O’Connor’s essays and lectures is curated by the author’s lifelong friends Sally and Robert Fitzgerald. A mix of published articles and essays alongside previously unpublished essays and lectures, O’Connor’s distinct style and wit permeate throughout each piece. The volume begins with “The King of the Birds,” her well-known essay on raising peacocks at her home in Georgia, and the sections following include essays and lectures on regional writing, teaching literature, and the writer and religion—all with valuable lessons for any writer and admirer of literature. “A story that is any good can’t be reduced, it can only be expanded,” writes O’Connor in “Writing Short Stories.” “A story is good when you continue to see more and more in it, and when it continues to escape you.”
