Wise Blood

By: Flannery O’Connor

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

Flannery O’Connor’s astonishing and haunting first novel is a classic of 20th-century literature. It is the story of Hazel Motes, a 22-year-old caught in an unending struggle against his innate, desperate faith. He falls under the spell of a “blind” street preacher named Asa Hawks and his degenerate 15-year-old daughter.

In an ironic, malicious gesture of his own non-faith, and to prove himself a greater cynic than Hawks, Hazel founds The Church of God Without Christ but is still thwarted in his efforts to lose God. He meets Enoch Emery, a young man with “wise blood,” who leads him to a mummified holy child and whose crazy maneuvers are a manifestation of Hazel’s existential struggles.

This tale of redemption, retribution, false prophets, blindness, and wisdom gives us one of the most riveting characters in American fiction.

©1990 The Estate of Mary Flannery O’Connor (P)2010 Blackstone Audio

Critic reviews

“No other major American writer of our century has constructed a fictional world so energetically and forthrightly charged by religious investigation.” ( The New Yorker)

“There is in Flannery O’Connor a fierceness of literary gesture, an angriness of observation, a facility for catching, as an animal eye in the wilderness, cunningly and at one sharp glance, the shape and detail and animal intention of enemy and foe.” ( The New York Times Book Review)

Great narration, and amazing writing

The characters are ghastly and well developed. The writing was masterful and stylish.

I got into the protagonist head thanks to the great narration.

Gothic Southern Religious Humor

This reminded me of Confederacy of Dunces with a wide range of humorous and exaggerated characters exploring faith, society, and individuality. Although I liked Confederacy somewhat better than Wise Blood, both were unique and interesting. Wise Blood is much shorter and was built up from short stories (weakening the whole). The prose are excellent with dark religious humor.

I really liked the narration. The narrator understood the humor of the novel and his timing and tone enhanced the story.

Brilliant performance

A masterful performance of a gripping and disturbing story. I enjoyed it immensely and might even listen to it again some time.

A very solid observation of a way of life

I am sure some will be up in arms about the raw honest look into fanaticism this book provides. It forces you to observe and draw your own conclusions, and it shows behavior and thoughts that, while no longer popular, are still prevalent in some areas of the country still today. it is important to be able to look at something, even if we detest it, because looking away is simply avoidance.

Take a few hours, see if you recognize humanity in this piece. Let yourself decide how you feel about what you have witnessed. Let your feelings have an impact.

Wonderful narrorator

Typical Flannery O’Connor. I loved the narrators different voices, especially the women’s. He is very talented with that. It’s hard to understand how he knows when to speak with disgust and how do so appropriately. Maybe he had a director.