The publication of this extraordinary volume firmly established Flannery O'Connor's monumental contribution to American fiction. There are thirty-one stories here in all, including twelve that do not appear in the only two story collections O'Connor put together in her short lifetime - Everything That Rises Must Converge and A Good Man Is Hard to Find. O'Connor published her first story, "The Geranium, " in 1946 while she was working on her master's degree at the University of Iowa. This Book, which is arranged chronologically, shows that her last story, "Judgement Day, " sent to her publisher shortly before her death, is a brilliantly rewritten and transfigured version of "The Geranium." Taken together, these reveal an amazing lively, imaginative, and penetrating talent that has given us some of the most powerful and disturbing fiction written this century. Also included is an introduction and memoir by O'Connor's long-time editor, Robert Giroux.
