Product ReviewsThe Habit of Being : Letters of Flannery O'Connor by Flannery O'Connor (1988, Trade Paperback)

1979 "Letters of Flannery O'Connor"

It is amazing to realize that Flannery O'Connor walked half a mile to a mailbox every day and that inside that mailbox, every day, would be a letter from her mother, Regina O'Connor. Flannery also wrote to her mother every day.

This book's editor, Sally Fitzgerald, gained direct access to the letters of Flannery O'Connor. Then, she carefully selected from them ones from 4 time frames: from 1948 to 1964.

Part I is entitled, "Up North and Getting Home 1948-1952" (pp 3-50).

Part II is "Day In and Day Out 1953-1958" (pp 53-311).

Part III is "The Violent Bear It Away 1959-1963" (pp 315-555).

Part IV is "The Last Year 1964" (pp 559-596).

What I do not like at all about Fitzgerald's organization of O'Connor's letters is that she does not provide any type of 'Table of Contents' at all. Readers have to hunt through over 600 pages (including the brief index) in order to discover that there are 4 parts. The Index in the books end is so under-developed that it's hardly useful.

Nevertheless, the actual substance, Flannery O'Connor's letters, are dated, usually state to whom they are addressed, and are filled with a myriad of topics which fascinated her. The absurdities of life caught O'Connor's attention most often.

I find these letters particularly relevant to my own life because I have the same disease that O'Connor died from the complications thereof. She does discuss her illness, somewhat; mostly how it relates to having energy to write. I get the feeling she's only revealing her blood count to her correspondents as a way of keeping them informed of how she's doing. O'Connor won't shy away from admitting she's too weak to do much or refrain from saying she's full of pep and on a writing roll. In the fourth & last section, O'Connor discusses then President Lyndon Johnson's effects on society in a quite humorous 8 January 64 letter.

Throughout many of her letters, O'Connor's sense of humor radiates through loud and clear. But, there's one letter where she practically blesses out a correspondent for messing around with her own health by experimenting with medications. O'Connor doesn't mince words. She's blatant calling the woman nuts.

What I like about O'Connor's vernacular is that she develops her own style of spelling: the word business is spelled bidnis; foreign is furrin, for example. She doesn't put on aires, even writing "it don't" or "I ain't."

I feel like that style of writing is evidence of her familiarity. Whether she's talking about a Senator with whom she's meeting or thanking a correspondent for a leather ape (!) or writing a Catholic nun, her style of writing doesn't change. I presume O'Connor's writing like she talked.

These letters are treasures that provide tremendous insight into who Flannery O'Connor was in every day life~Read full review...

Perfect!

Deep wisdom from a writer of mystery.

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