The material in this book has a long and interesting history. It all began back in 1964 when Fr. John J. Quinn, S.J., moderator of the new University of Scranton literary journal called Esprit, learned that Flannery O'Connor, the American essayist and short story writer, had died after a lingering illness. Since he was enthusiastic about her and her work, he hit upon the idea of dedicating an issue of Esprit in her memory. So he set about contacting a large number of distinguished American literary figures and soliciting from them a tribute to Flannery. He received a large number of replies, some brief, some extended, but all respectful and illuminating of her work. Among those represented were Brother Antoninus, Saul Bellow, Cleanth Brooks, Walter Burghardt, Harold Gardiner, Thomas Merton, Walker Percy, Eudora Welty, Katherine Ann Porter and Robert Penn Warren.

In the years following its publication, there was a constant and heavy demand for copies of this issue of Esprit until the run was exhausted. So in 1994, the 30th anniversary of her death, Fr. Quinn, now Professor Emeritus in the English Department, decided that the time was appropriate to reissue this tribute to Flannery O'Connor. The present volume, then, is basically a reprint of the material contained in that original issue modified only by some light editing and the addition of some recent essays at the end.