The Gospel According to Flannery O'Connor: Examining the Role of the Bible in Flannery O'Connor's Fiction (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781623560881)

Jordan Cofer examines the influence of the Bible upon Flannery O'Connor's fiction. While there are many studies exploring how her Catholicism affected her fiction, this book argues that O'Connor is heavily influenced by the Bible itself. Specifically, it explicates the largely undocumented ways in which she used the Bible as source material for her work. It also shows that, rhetorically, many of O'Connor's stories (and/or characters) are based upon biblical models. Furthermore, Cofer explains how O'Connor's stories engage their biblical analogues in unusual, unexpected, and sometimes grotesque ways, as her stories manage to convey essentially the same message as their biblical counterparts.

Throughout O'Connor's work there are significant biblical allusions which have been neglected or previously undiscovered. This book acknowledges her biblical source material so readers can understand the impact it had on her fiction. Cofer argues that readers can better appreciate her work by examining how her stories are often grounded in specific biblical texts, which she similarly distorts, exaggerates, and subverts, in order to shock and teach readers. Simply put, O'Connor doesn't merely reference these biblical stories, she rewrites them.

Author: Jordan Cofer
ISBN-10: 1623560888
ISBN-13: 9781623560881
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Language: English
Published: 04/24/2014
Pages: 160
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 0.60d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 11/01/2014 pg. 443