Everything Flannery Converges

A strange week, as everything seemed to point to Flannery O’Connor:

 Saturday – Took an out-of-town friend and his teenage son book shopping at A Cappella. I picked up a copy of Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood -- it was on my mind since  I saw that Emory was showing the John Huston film adaptation of that book on Monday night. The teenager, an amazing reader and history buff, bought Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Biological & Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World by Adrienne Mayer. And to think this kid was staying at my apartment. Took them to the Atlanta Book Exchange on North Highland also. Lots of Flannery O’Connor books there too, but no “pre-loved” copy of Wise Blood so I congratulated myself on buying it earlier.

Sunday – Read the AJC interview with Brad Gooch who was at the Margaret Mitchell House promoting his biography Flannery: A Life of Flannery O’Connor. 

Monday – Watched part of Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts, whose character, an ambitious prostitute with low self-esteem, hails from —where else? O’Connor’s hometown of Milledgeville, Georgia. Heard about Wordsmiths in Decatur closing. The last time I was there was to attend a reading by Peter Selgin, a Flannery O’Connor Award winner. (See December 23 posting)

Tuesday – Writers Jack Riggs, Renee Dodd, and Tom Mullen discussed the perils of writing a second book. (More about this in another posting.) Dodd teaches at Georgia College & State University  located at —where else? Milledgeville. During the discussion Riggs mentions O’Connor’s “provenient grace,” the inspiration that comes from God tapping you on the shoulder and saying “Do This!”

 Wednesday – Began reading Wise Blood. Provenient Grace?