Maya Hawke makes for an unconvincing Flannery O’Connor in an obvious, misfiring drama that takes big creative swings but mostly misses
January 2023
Top 10s
Top 10 novels and stories about prophets
Whether sad, fierce or downright murderous, these clairvoyant figures have enthralled writers from Sophocles to Charlotte Brontë and Hilary Mantel
December 2020
This Christmas, read a story aloud - you'll be surprised by the joy it brings
With many of us set to spend Christmas on Zoom or the phone, author Sarah Hall shares why dark and daring tales are perfect to read to others - and 10 great stories to try
June 2019
Inside the Guardian
Guardian Books: 'You can tell a lot about a country by how it treats its libraries'
The books site editor on the challenges facing publishers, and who she would invite to her dream dinner party
December 2017
Top 10s
Top 10 novels about God
He doesn’t appear very often in fiction, but in these books – by authors ranging from Fyodor Dostoevsky to John Updike – his impact is almighty
August 2016
Books blog
Sarah Hall: sex, death and the short story
Sex and death are the most fascinating aspects of life, fiction’s greatest challenge – and the short story is perfectly adapted to explore difficult subjects
July 2015
Reading American cities
Reading American cities: books about Atlanta
The literature of Atlanta reflects a history steeped in violence and racial tension. From Gone with the Wind to The Walking Dead, Anna Schachner explores the essential literary companions for the Georgian capital
December 2012
Reading group
Reading group: John Huston's Wise Blood is an unlikely cinematic feat
Reading group
Reading group: strange bodies in Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood
Reading group
Reading group: sin and symbolism in Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood
Reading group
December's Reading group: Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
September 2012
A brief survey of the short story
A brief survey of the short story part 43: Flannery O'Connor
O'Connor brings an enigmatic intensity to her gothic vision of the American South
February 2012
Top 10s
Shalom Auslander's top 10 comic tragedies
From Catch-22 to the Book of Job, the author of Hope: A Tragedy picks his favourite books that 'look into the abyss, smile, and give the abyss the finger'
July 2011
Books blog
A fresh look at Flannery O'Connor
Peter Wild: You may know her prose, but have you seen her cartoons?
April 2009
Books blog
Is Flannery O'Connor a Catholic writer?
Far from being senseless, the violence in Flannery O'Connor's work is bound up in the author's religious beliefs
March 2009
Philip French's classic DVD
Wise Blood
Philip French's classic DVD: Wise Blood Stunning adaptation of Flannery O'Connor's first novel, published in 1952 says Philip French
