The lazy crazy hazy days of summer seemed like the perfect time to read a classic, and being a 6 year Southern belle brought me to read Flannery O'Connor’s Wise Blood from 1952. O’Connor fashioned this novel based on four previously published short stories which takes a sardonic look at the inhumanity of war, hypocrisy of religion, and the inability of humans to connect.

O’Connor, tragically, only lived to the young age of 39 due to lupus, and while her name was familiar to me, due to the restrictive nature of my college concentration being British Literature and subsequent 30 year teaching career, where outside reading wasn't possible, I'd never read her. Wow, I've been missing out!

Wise Blood was provocative, profound and engrossing. Depressing as all get out, but the life truths doled out in southern gothic style were impactful. Try reading page 150 and not think about the broken lives of any suicide or mass murderer. Some lives have been broken beyond repair.

Not for the faint of heart, but worth the read. A true classic!

Wise Blood is currently available at BookStore1 Sarasota 117 S. Pineapple Ave. Sarasota, FL 34236 or at their online store at www.sarasotabooks.com. Originally Published 1952 ISBN: 9780374530631.