3 A Good Man is Hard to Find

In the third episode, I examine unlikable characters in Flannery O’Connor’s amazing short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”

Every character in this story is extremely unlikable in various ways, but when things turn to horror, we are forced to examine our judgments about them and think about how all of humanity deserves grace despite all our flaws.

I’m working on some unlikable characters in a page one rewrite of my novel Summerlands and thinking about how O’Connor does it here to help me figure it out. I also think I and many others can be sort of militant and cancel-happy in an effort to try to avoid bad treatment in life, but that’s a very dangerous road, especially if you have mental mirrors. Thinking through some big things here. That’s the point! Hey!

Also Tallulah dog makes all sorts of appearances as she was not having this recording and chewed on the table leg, the tabletop itself, and the knobs holding the mic stand on, as well as clicking around the room, though I think I edited out most of the major barking episodes.

It doesn’t have to be perfect to be worthwhile. A moral fable for our time. There we go.

Sacred cheese of life!