Benjamin Alexander - Good Things Out of Nazareth
Sunday, Nov 17, 2019 2:00 PM
Location:
A Cappella Books
208 Haralson Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30307
A Cappella Books welcomes Benjamin Alexander, editor of "Good Things Out of Nazareth," the newly-released literary treasure of over one hundred unpublished letters from National Book Award-winning author Flannery O'Connor and her circle of extraordinary friends.
This discussion and book signing is free and open to the public.
About the Book
Flannery O'Connor is a master of twentieth-century American fiction, joining, since her untimely death in 1964, the likes of Hawthorne, Hemingway, and Faulkner. Those familiar with her work know that her powerful ethical vision was rooted in a quiet, devout faith and informed all she wrote and did.
"Good Things Out of Nazareth," a much-anticipated collection of many of O'Connor's previously unpublished letters—along with those of literary luminaries such as Walker Percy ("The Moviegoer"), Caroline Gordon ("None Shall Look Back"), Katherine Anne Porter ("Ship of Fools"), Robert Giroux and movie critic Stanley Kauffmann. The letters explore such themes as creativity, faith, suffering, and writing. Brought together, they form a riveting literary portrait of these friends, artists, and thinkers. Here we find their joys and loves, as well as their trials and tribulations, as they struggle with doubt and illness while championing their beliefs and often confronting racism in American society during the civil rights era.
About the Author
Flannery O'Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1925. A devout Catholic, she lived most of her life on a farm in Milledgeville, Georgia, where she raised peacocks and wrote. She was the author of two novels, "Wise Blood" and "The Violent Bear It Away;" 31 short stories; and numerous essays and reviews. She died at the age of 39. Her complete short stories, published posthumously in 1971, received the National Book Award for fiction.
About the Editor
Benjamin B. Alexander was born in Wilmington (DE) and grew up on a family peach farm in South Carolina. He attended public school, graduated from the University of the South (Sewanee, TN), and earned an interdisciplinary doctorate in literature and political theory. A seasoned, dynamic classroom teacher with over 40 years of experience, he was tenured on two different college faculties.
