A good man is hard to find
First published 1955 · English · 251 pages
- Novels
- Historical fiction
This collection of short stories brought O'Connor's voice to a wide audience. The tales are set in the American South, among farm families, travelling salesmen, restless children and self-assured older women who think they know right from wrong. Her characters meet strangers, con artists and misfits who disturb their comfortable assumptions, and the humour of the early pages often turns toward something harsher and more serious.
The stories explore pride, selfishness, family tension and the possibility of grace arriving in strange, unwelcome forms. The title story, about a family road trip, is among the most discussed American short stories. The book shows why O'Connor is so admired for her precision and moral daring.
Quotes
Besides the neutral expression that she wore when she was alone, Mrs. Freeman had two others, forward and reverse, that she used for all her human dealings. (beginning of "Good Country People")
He liked parades with floats full of Miss Americas and Miss Daytona Beaches and Miss Queen Cotton Products. He didn't have any use for processions and a procession full of schoolteachers was about as deadly as the River Styx to his way of thinking. ("A Late Encounter with the Enemy")