Flannery O'Connor: New Perspectives [Hardcover]

Sura Prasad Rath (Editor), Mary Neff Shaw (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1996

These ten essays, seven of which are previously unpublished, reflect the broadening of critical approaches to Flannery O'Connor's work over the past decade. The essays offer both new directions for, and new insights into, reading O'Connor's fiction. Some essays probe issues that, until recently, had been ignored. Others reshape long-standing debates in light of new critical insights from gender studies, rhetorical theory, dialogism, and psychoanalysis. Topics discussed include O'Connor's early stories, her canonical status, the phenomenon of doubling, the feminist undertones of her stories' grotesqueries, and her self-denial in life and art. Commentary on O'Connor has most often centered on her regional realism and the poetics of her Catholicism. By regarding O'Connor as a major American writer and focusing on the variety of critical approaches that might be taken to her work, these essays dispel the earlier geographic and religious stereotypes and point out new avenues of study.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sura P. Rath is a professor of English, and department chair, at Louisiana State University, Shreveport. Mary Neff Shaw is an assistant professor of English at Louisiana State University, Shreveport.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 225 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr (February 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820317497
• ISBN-13: 978-0820317496
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,035,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fresh Look at a Great Author, November 20, 2002

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"drleathers" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flannery O'Connor: New Perspectives (Paperback)

I was privileged to be introduced to Flannery O'Connor's works in Dr. Rath's Fiction class at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. At the time, I wasn't aware that Dr. Rath is considered to be one of the most important authorities on O'Connor's work and life.

Dr. Rath once told us in class that he would describe his feelings toward O'Connor and her writings as love, and were she alive, he might seriously consider leaving Mrs. Rath for her. Of course, he was joking, but Dr. Rath writes about Flannery O'Connor's work and life with a passion that few can match.

Flannery O'Connor is perhaps a greater writer about the South than William Faulkner. She had a life cut short by chronic illness but in her short life she managed to write some of the most memorable stories I've ever read.

You will enjoy Dr. Rath's writings about Flannery O'Connor. I encourage you to do an online search for his articles and essays once you have read his book on the subject.