The Habit of Being

The letters of Flannery O'Connor compiled into the 600+ page book entitled The Habit of Being allow Flannery to be understood in a way no biography could replicate. She has been one of my favorite authors (William Faulkner also fills this role) for about five years in which time I have read all her short stories and her first novel. I loved her for her writing then and now I love her for the woman she was never ashamed to be.

A former professor lent me The Habit of Being two and a half weeks ago and as I finished the last pages at the end of last week, my gratitude for that random question ["have you ever read anything by Flannery O'Connor?"] multiplied. I'll admit that I have purchased my own copy of this book on amazon and look forward to rereading it after I reread Flannery's work.

The letters contained in this book are to her publisher, agent, various editors and contacts at universities, her fans and even Flannery's closest friends. As such, the reader gains unparalleled insight into Flannery's personal habit of being.

She was hilarious.
She was scarcastic.
She was Catholic.
She was honest.
She was humble.
She was a perfectionist.
She was hopeful.
She was afflicted.
She knew her strengths.
She appreciated her friends.


Normally when I read a book or watch a movie that contains a character I appreciate this much, I end up subconsciously attempting to emulate the person. For some odd reason, though, this is not the case with Flannery. Perhaps it is because I'm subconsciously aware that I'm already very similar to this woman or I suppose it could also be the result of appreciating her for who she was as well as what she produced and knowing that my talents lie elsewhere.

Flannery had an uncanny understanding of grace and on many occasions tried to explain it to her contacts. Being that grace is one of the theological concepts I have yet to understand, I found the passages dealing with the topic to be quite insightful and theologically astute.

By living in a way that necessitated growth in virtue as well as a deep understanding of humanity, Flannery acquired "the habit of being": an excellence not only of action but of interior disposition and activity that increasingly reflected the object, the being, which specified it, and was itself reflected in what she did and said.

All I can really say is that I have been changed by reading this book. As is my hope with all entertainment I seek, I have been changed for the better--in many ways I am yet unaware of.