Ready Reference

Occasionally visitors to Andalusia will ask me if I can suggest resources for someone who wants to learn more about Flannery O'Connor.  Without a moment's hesitation, I unabashedly direct them to our website.  Besides providing a lot of useful information for folks planning a visit to the farm, this site is a veritable repository of all things O'Connor.  Containing everything from a good bibliography to multimedia presentations and FAQs, our site has it all.  Another online resource I heartily recommend is a blog called The Comforts of Home. Though I am reluctant to steer folks away from my blog, this one offers an excellent compendium of O'Connor material.  After checking out these sites, I would encourage the budding Flanneryophile to read a good biography, such as Brad Gooch's, Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor.  Those of you who follow my blog know that I quote from this book extensively and I cannot recommend it highly enough.  Another resource I draw from a lot is The Habit of Being.  This collection of O'Connor's letters reveals much of her personality, spirituality, and dry, off-beat sense of humor.  The body of secondary literature on O'Connor is vast and ever-expanding.  Some of the more important of these books of literary criticism are listed on the Andalusia website.  For anyone wishing to peruse current O'Connor scholarship, I suggest checking out recent issues of the Flannery O'Connor Review.  This journal comes out once a year and presents a nice balance of essays and articles from all points of view.  Copies of the Review are available in the Andalusia gift shop or by subscription.   So there you have it, a substantial stockpile of resources to get you started in the wacky, witty world of Flannery O'Connor. 
- Mark