A Good Man Is Hard To Find
Encyclopedia
A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories (published in England as The Artificial Nigger and Other Tales) is a collection of short stories
by American
author Flannery O'Connor
. The collection was first published in 1955. The subjects of the short stories range from baptism
("The River") to serial killers ("A Good Man Is Hard to Find") to human greed and exploitation ("The Life You Save May Be Your Own").
in 1927.
, was broadcast on the CBS
network's Schlitz Playhouse
on February 1, 1957. O'Connor was not pleased with the results, as evidenced in a letter to a friend: "The best I can say for it is that it conceivably could have been worse. Just conceivably."
A film adaptation of the short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find", titled "Black Hearts Bleed Red", was made in 1992 by New York filmmaker Jeri Cain Rossi. The film stars noted New York artist Joe Coleman
.
An original 45-minute modern chamber opera based on "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" was completed in 2003 by David Volk, a University of Georgia music doctoral student, as part of his dissertation requirements in composition. The chamber opera was performed at the Seney-Stovall Chapel in Athens with grant funding from the University's Ideas for Creative Exploration (ICE). Later that same year, the work was performed at Piedmont College in Demorest, GA, and in Milledgeville, GA, at "Flannery O'Connor: The Visionary and the Vernacular," an interdisciplinary conference sponsored by Georgia College and State University (and home of the Flannery O'Connor Library). In 2007, the work was performed at the University of Virginia's College at Wise where Dr. Volk teaches as Assistant Professor of Music.
Musician Sufjan Stevens
wrote a song titled "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" on his album Seven Swans
; it is told from the viewpoint of the Misfit even though he is not the focus of the story.
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by American
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
author Flannery O'Connor
Flannery O'Connor
Mary Flannery O'Connor was an American novelist, short-story writer and essayist. An important voice in American literature, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries...
. The collection was first published in 1955. The subjects of the short stories range from baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
("The River") to serial killers ("A Good Man Is Hard to Find") to human greed and exploitation ("The Life You Save May Be Your Own").
Contents
It contains the following stories:- "A Good Man Is Hard to FindA Good Man is Hard to Find (short story)"A Good Man Is Hard to Find" is a short story written by Flannery O'Connor in 1953. The story appears in the collection of short stories of the same name, A Good Man Is Hard to Find. The interpretive work of scholars often focuses on the controversial final scene.-Background:The short story was...
" - "The RiverThe River (short story)"The River" is a short story by the American author Flannery O'Connor. It is one of the ten stories included her short story collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find, published in 1955. As a Roman Catholic novelist, most of Flannery's writing describe Christian redemption.-Plot summary:The story...
" - "The Life You Save May Be Your OwnThe Life You Save May Be Your Own"The Life You Save May Be Your Own" is a short story by the American author Flannery O'Connor. It is one of the ten stories in her short story collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find, published in 1955.- Plot summary :...
" - "A Stroke of Good FortuneA Stroke of Good Fortune"A Stroke of Good Fortune" is a short story by the American author Flannery O'Connor. It is one of the ten stories included her short story collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find, published in 1955. The story involves a woman who discovers to her disappointment and disbelief that she is pregnant.....
" - "A Temple of the Holy GhostA Temple of the Holy Ghost"A Temple of the Holy Ghost" is a short story by Flannery O'Connor. It was written in 1954 and published in 1955 in her short story collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find and is one of O'Connor's only explicitly Catholic stories...
" - "The Artificial NiggerThe Artificial Nigger"The Artificial Nigger" is a short story by Flannery O'Connor. It was published in 1955 in her short story collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find. The title refers to statues popular in the Jim Crow-era South, depicting grotesque minstrelcy characters. Like most of her other works, the story...
" - "A Circle in the FireA Circle in the Fire"A Circle in the Fire" is a short story by Flannery O'Connor. It was written in 1954 and published in 1955 in her short story collection A Good Man is Hard to Find. A devout Roman Catholic, O'Connor often used religious themes in her work.- Plot summary :...
" - "A Late Encounter with the EnemyA Late Encounter with the Enemy"A Late Encounter with the Enemy" is a short story by Flannery O'Connor. It was written in 1953 and published in 1955 in her short story collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find and is her only story dealing with the American Civil War...
" - "Good Country PeopleGood Country People"Good Country People" is a short story by Flannery O'Connor. It was published in 1955 in her short story collection A Good Man is Hard to Find. A devout Roman Catholic, O'Connor often used religious themes in her work.- Plot summary :...
" - "The Displaced PersonThe Displaced Person"The Displaced Person" is a short story by Flannery O'Connor. It was published in 1955 in her short story collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find. A devout Roman Catholic, O'Connor often used religious themes in her work and her own family hired a displaced person after World War II.- Plot summary...
"
Title
O'Connor's story title was taken from the blues song, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," written by Eddie Green and popularized by the singer Bessie SmithBessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
in 1927.
Adaptations
A television adaptation of the short story "The Life You Save May Be Your Own," starring Gene KellyGene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
, was broadcast on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
network's Schlitz Playhouse
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, is a weekly CBS anthology television series, was telecast on Friday nights from 1951 until 1959. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by Schlitz beer...
on February 1, 1957. O'Connor was not pleased with the results, as evidenced in a letter to a friend: "The best I can say for it is that it conceivably could have been worse. Just conceivably."
A film adaptation of the short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find", titled "Black Hearts Bleed Red", was made in 1992 by New York filmmaker Jeri Cain Rossi. The film stars noted New York artist Joe Coleman
Joe Coleman (painter)
Joe Coleman is an American painter, illustrator and performance artist.-Biography:He was born Joseph Coleman, Jr. in Norwalk, Connecticut to a World War II-veteran father and the daughter of a professional prizefighter.-Work:...
.
An original 45-minute modern chamber opera based on "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" was completed in 2003 by David Volk, a University of Georgia music doctoral student, as part of his dissertation requirements in composition. The chamber opera was performed at the Seney-Stovall Chapel in Athens with grant funding from the University's Ideas for Creative Exploration (ICE). Later that same year, the work was performed at Piedmont College in Demorest, GA, and in Milledgeville, GA, at "Flannery O'Connor: The Visionary and the Vernacular," an interdisciplinary conference sponsored by Georgia College and State University (and home of the Flannery O'Connor Library). In 2007, the work was performed at the University of Virginia's College at Wise where Dr. Volk teaches as Assistant Professor of Music.
Musician Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens first began releasing his music on Asthmatic Kitty, a label co-founded with his stepfather, beginning with the 1999 release, A Sun Came...
wrote a song titled "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" on his album Seven Swans
Seven Swans
Seven Swans is a folk rock music album by Sufjan Stevens. It includes songs about Christian spiritual themes and figures such as Abraham and Christ's Transfiguration...
; it is told from the viewpoint of the Misfit even though he is not the focus of the story.
External links
- Full text of the titular story from the collection.
- Full text of "The Life You Save May Be Your Own."
- A Good Man is Hard to Find from Google Books
See also
- Southern GothicSouthern GothicSouthern Gothic is a subgenre of Gothic fiction unique to American literature that takes place exclusively in the American South. It resembles its parent genre in that it relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot...
- Southern literatureSouthern literatureSouthern literature is defined as American literature about the Southern United States or by writers from this region...
- The GrotesqueGrotesqueThe word grotesque comes from the same Latin root as "Grotto", meaning a small cave or hollow. The original meaning was restricted to an extravagant style of Ancient Roman decorative art rediscovered and then copied in Rome at the end of the 15th century...