The Critical Reception of Flannery O'Connor, 1952-2017
Searchers and Discoverers
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Published:1st May '18
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
The first chronological overview of O'Connor criticism from the publication of her first novel, Wise Blood, in 1952 to the present. Flannery O'Connor is one of the most widely read, discussed, and taught of all American authors. She is immensely popular with students, general readers, and literary critics. Her work, often characterized as "Southern Gothic," betrays in its focus on morality her devout Roman Catholic faith even as it displays a wicked sense of humor. She has been the subject of numerous articles and books, and indeed an entire journal devoted to her writings has existedfor decades. There is not, however, any chronological overview of the history of O'Connor criticism. The present volume fills that very conspicuous gap. It is the sort of book that practically every college and university library,as well as many public libraries, will need to own, and it will appeal not only to scholars and students but to non-academic readers of O'Connor, whose numbers are legion. A particular value of the book is that it synthesizes criticism and commentary that is now only available in individual essays that are widely scattered. Robert C. Evans is Professor of English at Auburn University Montgomery. Among his many books is Critical Insights: ShortFiction of Flannery O'Connor (2016).
[I]mpressive . . . . [W]ill be useful to many students and to the teachers who help them. Scholars, too, will find the book quite helpful in terms of suggesting important articles they have missed. . . . On the whole, and in less than three hundred pages, Evans has done a very good job of surveying the major issues in O'Connor studies and of suggesting what is now worth researching. * RESOURCES FOR AMERICAN LITERARY STUDY *
A key source on O'Connor, this volume markedly advances the critical literature on this remarkable writer. * CHOICE *
The main annotated bibliographies summarizing O'Connor criticism give her novels short shrift. To address this oversight, this study centers on the eighty major critical monographs and essay collections about the Southern Catholic author. Organized both chronologically and topically, the book covers such themes as aesthetics, religion, historical contexts, the South, race, and gender. * AMERICAN LITERATURE *
Flannery O'Connor expert Robert C. Evans has made a significant intervention in the field with his detailed examination of O'Connor scholarship.[...] The book is a must for emerging O'Connor scholars, and in relation to its subtitle 'Searchers and Discoverers', it delivers on providing an invaluable foundation for researchers in the field. * MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW *
With each turn of the page, readers encounter a number of key critics who developed insights into a particular theme, from race, racism, and whiteness to gender, from Christianity and Catholicism to aesthetic style and form . [. . . ] It is an understatement to say that Evans's monograph will be extremely valuable for O'Connor scholars. * The Year's Work in English Studies *
ISBN: 9781571139436
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 560g
280 pages