"If you want to write well and live well at the same time, you better arrange to inherit money."
~ Flannery O'Connor, quoted in "Conversations with Flannery O' Connor," a publication of the University Press of Mississipi.

It's one of my life-long quests to get everyone I know to read my favorite book, Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," and to read at least one book by my favorite author, Flannery O' Connor. I know it's weird that my favorite book isn't written by my favorite author. It's a long story. But in case you were wondering, the best book to buy if you want to get started reading Flannery O' Connor (and you should want to) is "Everything That Rises Must Converge." It's a collection of short stories that are easier to sift through than a whole novel might be right at first. But don't read Flannery O'Connor if you're looking for affirmation of the basic goodness of human nature. Ms. O'Connor was a firm believer in the depravity of man, and it's kind of hard to look at such a stark depiction of original sin for very long without squinting your eyes. We're not used to hearing about that, but it's kind of refreshing to be given a walloping dose of the truth once in a while. If that doesn't sound like your kind of thing, it's worth noting that O'Connor was also a very funny woman and that comes across in her writing quite frequently.
Again, I promise to get back to writing things you actually care about soon. Hang in there.