It's been six months since I read this and I am still thinking about it. So I decided to give it a star rating. I would probably actually rate it nearer 4.5/5, since there were individual stories I did not love, but the fact that I am still trying to figure out what it is I didn't like about them means that Flannery is sticking around in my brain. She'll probably be there for the rest of my life. There are worse writers to be haunted by.

Review June 2023:

I meant to reread all of O'Connor's stories this summer, but the only audiobook I could find was this one, so it'll do for now.

I had mostly forgotten the content of these (except A Good Man Is Hard to Find and The Life You Save May Be Your Own). The titular story is probably the strongest. The one that most affected me was The River.

My main struggle with these is that she's such a good writer, and then suddenly it's over and you're not sure why anything that happened did. One story took place only while a woman walked up the stairs to her apartment. I know these choices are very intentional, and I'm not smart enough to understand why. But I suppose that's the beauty of reading O'Connor: you're left with a powerful sense that there are things bigger than you.

The ending of The Displaced Person was very well done, and a good place to end the collection.

Everyone should read some O'Connor.