toss a handful of confetti in the air for flannery o'connor, because today is her birthday. which makes today a damn fine day. i love her so much, i cannot think of a single thing to write that does the subject justice. teaching "everything that rises must converge" and "good country people" is the highlight of every american lit class (with fitzgerald coming in a close second, caron). ah. i'm so in love i'm speechless. you lovers of o'connor, please help. write something about reading her.
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always before thunder storms, when the air is heavy and it's about to start raining, i think of the end of "The Life You Save May Be Your Own," where Mr. Shiftlet prays, "Oh Lord! Break forth and wash the slime from this earth!" what a great story.
darby, how do you always know about these writers' birthdays? at any rate, i'm glad you DO know. it's handy.
flannery o'connor is, i think, one of the handful of christian writers that i whole-heartedly love. as emily would say, she can eat crackers in my bed anytime. (that is, she could if she hadn't died.)
what a cool, cool person. what a great person to have as a writer and a believer. praise God for the whole range of the faith. praise God for Catholics.
flannery o'connor...reading "the habit of being", a collection of letters she wrote to various people throughout her life as a writer, was spellbinding. i'd read three or four letters before bed & dream about the people she knew or her mama's chicken farm or getting lost in atlanta (hotlanta).
i'd take that thick volume to work with me, stop off in the bathroom & tuck the book under a pile of newspapers that i kept under the sink in ladies restroom. most times i was the only woman to use that restroom as i was the only woman in the art department. so, when work was slow, instead of web surfing, i'd head into the bathroom for 5 or 10 minutes of reading.
i'd let flannery o'connor eat a funnel cake in bed, even. those things are messy.
both of you can eat french toast in my bed any time.
another great o'connor moment: the introduction of manley pointer (sheister bible salesman and devout "chrustian") who steals joy-hulga's wooden leg after an awkward roll in the hay. brilliant. in "good country people."
what a name, manley pointer.
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