The Times got its money's worth, that's for sure. Very nice.
When asked why she wrote, she replied, “Because I’m good at it.” She found sickness “more instructive than a long trip to Europe.” She was buried the day after she died. Robert Giroux sent a copy of “Wise Blood” to Evelyn Waugh hoping for a blurb, and Waugh replied, “The best I can say is: ‘If this really is the unaided work of a young lady, it is a remarkable product.’ ”
I've written about this before elsewhere, and I've reviewed Gooch's biography of Flannery O'Connor for BookLoons, but I would offer again a simple observation. As good as Gooch's biography is--and is a valuable contribution to O'Connor research--there is still no better way to access the "true biography" of O'Connor than to read her own words, including her fiction, of course, but especially her nonfiction (essays and letters). She was an absolutely brilliant writer. No one should live a life without having fully immersed himself or herself in the world of Flannery O'Connor.
ReplyDeleteI did love that review, though--it's one of the most vibrant and exciting and flat-out fun reviews I've read in a long time. Joy Williams obviously understands which of the many pleasures biography can offer can actually be conveyed in a review, and she supplied them in spades.
ReplyDeleteNo biography of a great writer is ever equal to the writer's work, but I think than anyone who is an aficionado of reviews (as a former book review editor is likely to be) has to be impressed by Joy Williams's review.
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