A Prayer Journal

"When I read Flannery O'Connor, I do not think of Hemingway, or Katherine Anne Porter, or Sartre, but rather of someone like Sophocles. What more can you say for a writer?" --Thomas Merton

"This slender, charming book must be approached with a special tact. To read it feels a little like an intrusion on inwardness itself . . . The brilliance that would make [O'Connor's] fictions literary classics is fully apparent . . . ["A Prayer Journal"] is as eloquent on the subject of creativity as it is on the subject of prayer . . . The prose is absolutely brilliant, sentence by sentence, simile by simile . . . relentlessly inventive . . . [O'Connor's] religious sincerity is beyond question, but the forms of its expression raise many questions. This is no criticism. It is the honorable work of any writer who touches on great matters to provoke . . . This little journal puts its reader a step closer to one touching and remarkable young mind." --Marilynne Robinson, "The New York Times Book Review"

"Miraculous . . . Both a blueprint for her fiction and a prophetic dreaming-out of her life's purpose and pattern . . . Beneath the surface, as recorded on the 47 and a half handwritten pages to which we now have access, [O'Connor] was refining her vocation with the muscularity and spiritual ferocity of a young saint-in-waiting." --James Parker, "The Atlantic"

"A startlingly different view of the religious O'Connor." --Marian Ryan, "Slate"

"If you've already read everything ever written by Flannery O'Connor and crave more, take heart: This recently discovered diary of her long-form letters to God will make you

especially thankful." --Abbe Wright, "O: The Oprah Magazine"

"Perhaps the most intimate writing that has yet surfaced from O'Connor." --Bo Emerson, "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution"

"Religious or not, the daily devotionals written by one of America's greatest writers between 1946 and 1947 are uplifting and inspiring, as well as a great insight into the mind of Flannery O'Connor." --Jason Diamond, "Flavorpill," 10 Must Reads for November

"Gorgeous" --Leon Wieseltier, "The New Republic"

"A fascinating prospect for anyone with an interest in O'Connor's writing, inseparable as it is from her Catholic belief in sin and redemption." --Mark O'Connell, "The Millions"

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"I love the O'Connor that shines through these pages . . . Witty . . . Deeply earnest." --Betsy Childs, "First Things"

"This stirring collection of prayers and reflections provides another crucial piece in the enduringly mysterious and endlessly intriguing puzzle that was Flannery O'Connor's life." --Lorraine V. Murray, "The Georgia Bulletin"

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"["A Prayer Journal"] offers an honest, intimate, humorous, mysterious, and comforting view into the mind and heart of one of America's greatest writers." --Word on Fire Catholic Ministries

"O'Connor had said, 'I think it is safe to say that while the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted.' ["A Prayer Journal"] should be a fine place to see the inner life of one of America's finest fiction writers in history, and an unwavering Christian, as she experiences that haunting herself." --Bible Portal, ChristianPost.com

"These excerpts are raw revelations of a devout young person's struggle . . . You can hear the push and pull, the train of her particular Christianity on a brilliant mind." --Amy Frykholm, "The Christian Century Blog"

"Have you ever read something . . . so sublime that it was hard to talk about with anything resembling coherence. If so, then you'll understand why it is so difficult to articulate my experience of reading Flannery O'Connor's intimate and soul-baring "A Prayer Journal." I closed the book with a combination of awed silence and heart-soaring joy." --Angela Cybulski, Dappled Things: A Quarterly Journal of Ideas, Art, & Faith

"A collection of poignant, lyrical letters to God, written passionately and honestly . . . Many readers may breathe a sigh of relief to learn [O'Connor] had trouble praying. Not that I would wish this on anyone, but her admission makes her less of an untouchable, perfect icon of faith . . . I pray that many readers will experience, as I have, a resounding joy in reading the words of this beloved author again after so many years." --Lorraine Murray, IntegratedCatholicLife.org

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"There's metaphysical mystery at the heart of this short journal . . . as well as the seeds of the spiritual life force that coursed through [O'Connor's] fiction." --"Kirkus Reviews"

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"[The prayers are] astutely crafted and reveal a masterful writer at work." --"Publishers Weekly"