Play Book Tag discussion

A collection of short stories, all taking place in the South in the late 1940s. For some reason I thought these would be fun stories - maybe because of all the jokes based on the title. But no - these were all grim, sad, depressing tales.

Each story had its own cast of characters, and out of the dozens of people depicted in this book there was not one single likable character. They were all some combination of selfish, mean, dishonest, law breaking and just plain awful.

It took a while to get into the swing of this book. Once I realized that every story had a terrible ending, I started to become fascinated by just how horrible these people were to each other.

I do think the place and time gave some interesting intersections: Post WWII veterans returning to the depressed economy in the South; Post reconstruction South just heading into full-on Jim Crow; Lots of roaming, displaced people - in one story actual WWII survivors from Poland. All these theme collide in disastrous ways through this book.

I gave this book 5 stars - the stories were impossible to put down and I think some of them will stay with me for a long time.

Sue wrote: "A collection of short stories, all taking place in the South in the late 1940s. For some reason I thought these would be fun stories - maybe because of all the jokes based on the title. But no - th..."

I would have thought the same thing based on Mae West's twist of the words. Insert bawdy joke here. (I love Mae West quotes.)

This has been on my radar for awhile. I think it was one of the books mentioned in... The Storied Life of AJ Fikry.

I didn't even know Flannery was a woman until I saw this cover. I want to read this.

Nancy - We do seem to like the same books, so you'll probably like this one. But don't expect any heroes or happy endings out of these stories!

I really need to read this. My niece, Bianca, is a huge fan of Flannery O'Connor's. Maybe I'll put the collection on my Xmas wish list ....