Rich (15/26): Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor

Reasons to read this collection of short stories:

1. The title rocks.


2. The mystique surrounding Flannery O'Connor.


3. Her style works like this: left jab, left jab, left jab, left jab, RIGHT HOOK. You know it's coming; you do everything in your power to avoid it, feint, block, dodge, scramble, punch, but you end up walking right into it.


4. These stories unmask the thoughts behind every expression, the longing behind every look, and the pain behind every cough. It could be that muffled scream through the wall from a neighbor, the sigh from an old man on a park bench, or the yawn from the teenager in the doctor's waiting room. They all are whiffs of sweet banana bread baking that make you look up while you are walking on the street, evoking much more than a visceral stomach grumbling.


5. They're short.


6. What's that on the cover?