A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories

By: Flannery O'Connor

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

The collection that established O’Connor’s reputation as one of the American masters of the short story. The volume contains the celebrated title story, a tale of the murderous fugitive "The Misfit", as well as “The Displaced Person” and eight other stories.

©1948, 1953, 1954, 1955 and (c) renewed 1976, 1981, 1983 Mary Flannery O'Connor Charitable Trust. Introduction text copyright (c) 2019 by Lauren Groff. (P)2010 Audio production copyright by Blackstone Audio, Inc. Introduction Audio production copyright 2019 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Great storytelling, brutal and philosophical

This is my first time reading O’Connor and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed her stories despite very brutal imagery. I enjoyed the way she is both an insider (Southerner) and outsider (Catholic) and how that permeates her writing. My favorite story was Good Country People.

The narration is good however there are some annoying skips and weird moments where it appears that the narration changes like she stopped recording and picked back up in the middle of the passage.

I loved the foreword, it helped me analyze the stories better.

Meater story teller

O'connor is a masterful story teller.
each word counts. Deep subplots. suspenseful colorful charachters too.

American Gothic

solidly written and solidly performed. This reads like a critique of Southern Culture mixed with horror.

Great read….but…

Well read, well written, but hard to listen to with the language and attitude towards people of color. Wouldn’t read it again but she is a great writer.

nothings changed after all these years...the truth remains, how hard it is to find a good man

These short stories show the difference in generational gaps when it comes to morals, values, beliefs, and dating in the South. The grandma who regarded herself as devout Christian but is actually the opposite, a judgmental bigoted sinner. It all comes to the surface after meeting the "Misfit." O'Connor uses situational irony throughout the short story. The title of the story "A Good Man is Hard to Find"is when, in fact, the bad man is easy to find, but the grandmother is really the Misfit. She tries to persuade the Misfit with her Christian grace but isn't spared. Her reckless mouth finally catches up with her. She notices that all that claim they're Christian ain't good people, this right here is a word all in itself. People use their religion as an excuse, as a hiding space, or to justify their ignorance. In the end, all stories displayed how hard it is to find a good man no matter how good they man seem, act, look, or behave. #book9of2024 #bookworm #whatsnext

It contains the following stories:

"A Good Man Is Hard to Find"
"The River"
"The Life You Save May Be Your Own"
"A Stroke of Good Fortune"
"A Temple of the Holy Ghost"
"The Artificial N*****"
"A Circle in the Fire"
"A Late Encounter with the Enemy"
"Good Country People"
"The Displaced Person"

not my taste, boring

not my taste, stories are boring and sound ignorant to me very hard to listen too. didnt like content.

More than meets the ear

I can really relate to the reviews, and even the introduction to this book where there are concerns about the language used throughout a number of the stories in this collection. The fight to end racism has to be coupled to the fight against damaging stereotypes or language.

In this particular case, I think the reader has to try to separate out what Flannery O’Connor was, trying to say in her stories. As a collection, these stories deal with the American dream and the contrast with the American reality I don’t believe Ms. O’Connor is using language that she believes in or even using language to a certain effect, it is important to consider the time in which these stories were written, and also the cultural background against which they were written. I think a careful read (or listen) reveals the injustice, the prejudice and, yes, the racism that was present at the time and persists, in some forms, today.
These stories do not represent celebration of the problems, nor even ignorance of them. Instead, I think they are a reminder to all of us about the dangers of turning a blind eye to our reality, and cultivating a too- sanitized vision.
The performance of the stories is truly remarkable. The stories come alive through the performance of our reader, and perfectly embellish. What are already remarkable works of literary art

Not for everybody, but for those looking for a true time piece of American literature, this is, must reading .

Totally Confused

My daughter gifted me this book, so i tried really hard to like it - never got there! The narrator read with the oddest and most indifferent inflections throughout no matter what was happening in the story, She just kept on going with the same disinterested and non-relating voice. I just don't understand what her intent was, but the result was that I could not finish. Even though I listened to two and a half of the stories I could not get into the story. so many useless details. This is a perfect example of how narration can totally not go along with a story. if I bought this i would return it.