Southern Gothic

The other day I was chatting with my boyfriend about Flannery O’Connor and though he’ll probably be embarrassed I’m mentioning it here, he admitted that he didn’t know much about her or her writing. I was shocked (SHOCKED!) because she’s one of my absolute favorite authors and a huge influence in one of my favorite literary genres. Sometimes I feel like I must have spent a former life somewhere in Savannah or Louisiana because Southern Gothic just feels so comfortable. Decaying houses, hot sticky country towns, sinister and grotesque characters, these are a few of my favorite things. Not to mention the wider underlying themes of social class conflict, racism, and the flawed human condition.

To celebrate my love of Southern Gothic and Flannery O’Connor, here is a selection of some of my all time favorite book covers, all illustrated by Canadian artist Roxanna Bickadoroff. She did a great little interview with The Caustic Cover Critic a few years ago that explains the inspiration behind her book covers and thoughts on being an illustrator. Also check out a free online copy of O’Connor’s most famous short story A Good Man is Hard to Find.

If you’re looking for more Southern Gothic, I highly recommend these books as a good jumping off point, some of which you’ve probably read or seen the movie for (dueling banjos anyway?)

As I Lay Dying: The Corrected Text (Modern Library) by William Faulkner
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Oprah's Book Club) by Carson McCullers
Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy
Deliverance by James Dickey
The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor
The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty
The Long Home by William Gay