海角大神

In the world of book publishing, the temptation to extend an聽author鈥檚 literary life often proves irresistible.聽Perhaps most famously, the 1961 death of Ernest Hemingway did not serve as an impediment to the release of numerous volumes of until-then unseen writings 鈥� some worthwhile, others interminable, but none on a par with, say, 鈥淎 Farewell to Arms.鈥�

Georgia native Flannery O鈥機onnor (1925-64), author of the classic novel 鈥淲ise Blood鈥� and countless short stories, including 鈥淎 Good Man Is Hard to Find,鈥� was hardly in need of additional publications to bolster her reputation. Yet that has not dissuaded publishers from releasing work that O鈥機onnor had opted not to make public during her lifetime, including a journal of her prayers and a coffee-table book of inventive cartoons she churned out in young adulthood.

The latest posthumous O鈥機onnor publication, 鈥淕ood Things Out of Nazareth,鈥� turns out to be no less than the third assembly of the author鈥檚 correspondence to appear since her death 鈥� and, in fact, the second to see publication in the last 12 months. It was preceded by 鈥淭he Letters of Flannery O鈥機onnor and Caroline Gordon,鈥� a 2018 gathering of exchanges between the writer and one of her mentors, and 鈥淭he Habit of Being,鈥� which has acquired classic status since its first appearance in 1979.

Cynics may charge that this book is a sign of diminishing returns in the O鈥機onnor cottage industry, but readers who prize the author for her acerbic intelligence and deep commitment to her Roman Catholic faith will have no reason to complain.聽

Editor Benjamin Alexander, who teaches at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, hatched the idea for the current collection upon learning about O鈥機onnor letters that had not made the cut for inclusion in 鈥淭he Habit of Being,鈥� despite her closeness to several correspondents. For example, 鈥淪he often wrote to a Jesuit priest, the Rev. James H. McCown, who appears sparingly in 鈥楾he Habit of Being,鈥欌�� Alexander writes. 鈥淗e visited her many times at the Georgia farm.鈥�

Colleagues, mentors, and peers are all represented here. The back-and-forth between O鈥機onnor and McCown dates to 1956, when he introduced himself to her as an admirer of her writing. Intriguingly, their exchanges feature the author providing instruction to the priest 鈥� not about spiritual matters, but about the surprising ways that seemingly irreligious fiction can nonetheless reflect religious ideas.聽

Expressing impatience with works of overtly Catholic writers, such as Georges Bernanos, O鈥機onnor writes, 鈥淵ou get more benefit reading someone like Hemingway where there is apparently a hunger for a Catholic completeness in life, or Joyce who can鈥檛 get rid of it no matter what he does.鈥� She springs to the defense of Lutheran (and later Episcopalian) writer John Updike, whose novel 鈥淩abbit, Run鈥� featured too many sex scenes for her taste, but still possessed a spiritual dimension to be admired.聽

Throughout her correspondence, O鈥機onnor is revealed to be confident enough in her own religious convictions that she has precious little patience for piousness 鈥� a genuinely refreshing attitude.

The book is valuable for providing a peek into the birth pangs of some of her work. Caroline Gordon offers O鈥機onnor appreciative but not uncritical opinions. Sometimes her judgments were on big-picture matters, such as the lack of background detail in 鈥淲ise Blood.鈥� 鈥淭he whole book would gain by not being so stripped, so bare, by surrounding the core of action with some contrasting material,鈥� writes Gordon, who could also be the most scrupulous of copy editors. Writing to O鈥機onnor about her short story 鈥淭he Displaced Person,鈥� Gordon objects that 鈥渢here is no such word as 鈥榮quinch.鈥欌�澛�

Other highlights include O鈥機onnor鈥檚 thoughtful answers to one attentive reader鈥檚 apparently extensive array of questions about 鈥淲ise Blood鈥�; and her comments, in a letter to Ward Allison Dorrance, about the inspiration it takes to write 鈥� an experience she refers to as a kind of grace: 鈥淚ts [sic] just like you said: you have to be chosen. And in between times of being chosen, you have to keep on writing.鈥� A continual delight is O鈥機onnor鈥檚 Southern-inflected, occasionally down-home phrasing, as in this passage: 鈥淚n one of my affluent years I bought me a Smith Corona compact 250 electric typewriter.鈥�

As hinted at in the subtitle 鈥渁nd Friends,鈥� the book includes many letters that do not feature O鈥機onnor on either the receiving or sending end. Although the editor鈥檚 attempt to sketch the circle in which O鈥機onnor traveled is admirable, some readers may lose interest when encountering letters that do not concern O鈥機onnor.

Perhaps this book, then, may represent the final major contribution to the posthumous career of Flannery O鈥機onnor 鈥� but it鈥檚 a fine note to end on.聽