Cambridge University Press has just published Volume 16 in the American Critical Archives Series, and the title is Flannery O'Connor: The Contemporary Reviews. The editors are R. Neil Scott from Middle Tennessee State University and Irwin H. Streigh from the Royal Military College of Canada. The title is a bit misleading, as the editors admit, because the reviews are not limited to those published only during O'Connor's lifetime. In their words, "Given the remarkable posthumous acclaim for O'Connor's art and thought, and the special honor accorded her in the seven years following her death in 1964, in selecting and editing reviews for this volume we have taken what we feel are legitimate liberties within the rubric of contemporary critical responses to American authors with which the series is concerned." And, it should be noted that O'Connor is in very good company in this series with writers such as Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Faulkner, Twain, T. S. Eliot, and Eudora Welty. This volume offers critical book reviews on O'Connor's published fiction and essays, including more than 400 reviews from more than 200 publications. With a total of 482 pages, including a strong introduction and a respectable index, this monograph will be a valuable addition to O'Connor scholarship.
Craig
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