Behind the Scenes with Flannery O'Connor: Jessica Hooten Wilson

·58 min·5 clips

A Catholic host who dislikes Flannery O'Connor explores her archives to find a path to appreciation.

David Dault introduces the episode by acknowledging his personal dislike for Flannery O'Connor while expressing gratitude for Jessica Hooten Wilson's book, which offers a path to appreciation. Wilson provides a brief biography of O'Connor: a Catholic novelist from Georgia who died of lupus at 39, initially popular but not widely recognized for her faith during her lifetime. They discuss the shifting reception of O'Connor's work, from early acclaim by figures like Evelyn Waugh to later reappraisal within Catholic literary circles post-Vatican II. Wilson shares her personal introduction to O'Connor through a professor who gave her the story 'The Life You Save May Be Your Own' during a summer program at age 15. The conversation touches on the concept of the grotesque in O'Connor's fiction, distinguishing her use from other Southern writers like Truman Capote. Wilson explains O'Connor's writing philosophy: she balanced tragedy and comedy, aiming not to save her characters but to save her readers' souls by confronting them with darkness and hope. The host inquires about O'Connor's writing process, revealed through archives to involve daily three-hour sessions, extensive retyping, and detailed backstories for characters. Wilson outlines the plot of O'Connor's unfinished novel 'Why Do the Heathen Rage?', focusing on a white intellectual's epistolary blackface and a confrontation with a faith-driven woman. They address O'Connor's difficulties portraying African-American characters, linking it to her segregated environment and family influences. The discussion considers how O'Connor might have evolved had she lived into the civil rights era, comparing her to Walker Percy. Wilson references O'Connor's letters, including one about James Baldwin, and debates scholar Paul Elie's characterization of O'Connor as racist, advocating for a more nuanced view of her as 'on a journey.' Parallels are drawn between O'Connor and Dostoevsky, both responding to Nietzsche's 'God is dead' with hope amid suffering. The episode concludes with Wilson recommending readers start with O'Connor's last story 'Revelation' and work backwards, and Dault thanking her for enriching his understanding.

As heard by us

Jessica Houghton Wilson traces the patient, faith-shaped labor behind Flannery O'Connor's fiction.

David Dalt's conversation with Jessica Houghton Wilson turns Flannery O'Connor's unfinished Why Do the Heathen Rage into a study of the discipline beneath the fiction.

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Why you'd press play

Step into Flannery O'Connor's archives and hear how a three-hour daily writing habit became almost a religious practice.

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