Brad Gooch

Brad Gooch is the author of the acclaimed biography of Frank O'Hara, City Poet, as well as other nonfiction and three novels. The recipient of National Endowment for the Humanities and Guggenheim fellowships, he earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University and is Professor of English at William Paterson University in New Jersey.

From a Q & A with Gooch about his new book, Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor:

Who were O’Connor’s favorite authors?

Poe, Joyce, Gogol, Faulkner, Mauriac, Bernanos, Conrad, Lardner.

Who did she think was overrated?

She wasn’t very kind to some of her fellow Southern writers--McCullers, Capote, or Williams. She thought To Kill a Mockingbird a “wonderful children’s book.”

How did being a Catholic living in the Bible Belt influence O’Connor’s work?

She was mesmerized by the Bible thumpers. Only two Catholic priests appear in her stories.

Read the complete Q & A.

--Marshal Zeringue