Hailed by critics as one of the more con­troversial of contemporary American authors, Flannery O'Connor has been de­scribed as the most extreme Christian dualist since Dostoevsky. In this first full-length study of O'Connor's work, Brown­ing explores the implications of O'Con­nor's situation as a Roman Catholic in the South in the 1950s.

From this point of departure Browning offers a detailed analysis of Wise Blood, A Good Man Is Hard to Find, The Vio­lent Bear It Away,and Everything That Rises Must Converge. Touching upon writings about intensely religious acts and dilemmas, this look at a Roman Catholic Southern writer will be of special interest to students of philosophy and religion.