pidge_reads's review against another edition
4.0
I love a good biography of a fascinating woman. This one was a little slow at times but worth reading.
iammandyellen's review against another edition
5.0
am always disappointed by biographies. am never very curious about the decor of childhood parlors or vague relationships of the family to dim historical events. i want a biography pared down to the phenomenon of the person alone, want to see how one creates oneself out of and distinguishes oneself from one's milieu. i want something i cannot get from the work, some knotted thing.
shelfimprovement's review against another edition
3.0
It's moving slowly because it's rather on the tedious side, which is a shame. I love Flannnery O'Connor and I had such high hopes for this biography.
quoththegirl's review against another edition
4.0
Years ago, one of my favorite English professors had a classful of us over for dinner to meet two of her friends (also English professors) and to discuss Southern American literature. Seeing three old friends talk with one another was beautiful, and their conversation held all of us completely in thrall. These three women were brilliant in their respective fields, utterly hilarious, and had tremendous strength of friendship. We talked about many authors, but the one that really sticks out in my mind is Flannery O’Connor. Until that evening, I had pretty ambivalent feelings about Flannery O’Connor’s writing. After hearing one of the friends, a brilliant Flannery scholar, hold forth on the topic, I was inspired to read every short story O’Connor ever wrote. This woman’s passion for O’Connor’s work was so strong that she made me love her work too. I remember the professor quoting Flannery, explaining her work’s violent turning points to shock spiritually complacent readers: ”To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.” The professor recommended the biography Flannery by Brad Gooch, and I finally read it this week. The above quote was in the book, and I was suddenly transported back to my professor’s living room, sitting on cushions and drinking coffee and talking about wonderful books.
cwu's review against another edition
2.0
I think I agree with Flannery O'Connor in that her life was not interesting enough for a biography. Not much of interest about the life of O'Connor, but lots of literary criticism of her works, which is not what I was looking for. The writing also did not seem to flow well and I sometimes found it hard to concentrate on. I don't think that I would recommend this book to anyone except hardcore O'Connor fans who feel the need to read up on everything about her.
charaveryy's review against another edition
5.0
As a person who loves history and loves stories of people, I often read biographies. However, most of the time, no matter how interested I am in a person or their life, I end up getting bored. Bored by lengthy paragraphs about the surrounding historical climate, or facts that just don't bring me closer to the subject. What I look for in a biography, personally, is a person that is almost tangible at the end. Brad Gooch has done that. It feels like he loves his subject, and it comes through. I can't imagine the research that he did. There was no unnecessary information, no unnecessary context. I was able to simply enjoy pages and pages of anecdotes about Flannery O'Connor, that came directly from the mouths of people who were close to her. Reading this biography has also strengthened my understanding of her fiction. Highly recommend it for anyone who wants to learn more about O'Connor, or having been moved by her, wants to feel touched by her.
plantybooklover's review against another edition
3.0
This is a good biography of Flannery O'Connor. I can't really say if it reflects her life or not, as I have not read another, but given the amount of research t appears the author put into it, I suspect it is accurate. it is readable, and interesting, even for someone like myself who is quite unfamiliar with her work. I know the titles, but I am unsure I have read her stories. Fear not, I received a complete anthology as well as the biography for Christmas.....
There were some interesting insights into illness, the world of writers, and of course a world prior to the immediacy of computers text messages etc. Flannery had such a correspondence, as most writers of the times did with each other. These days...this sort of thing seem to be lost to the ephemeral quality of electronics....
There were some interesting insights into illness, the world of writers, and of course a world prior to the immediacy of computers text messages etc. Flannery had such a correspondence, as most writers of the times did with each other. These days...this sort of thing seem to be lost to the ephemeral quality of electronics....
navabrown's review against another edition
5.0
This is a beautiful telling of Flannery's life in all it's quirks, disappointments, and gifts. I was already a lover of MFOC, but this book gave me a deeper respect and admiration for her as a writer and a person. Gooch did excellently.