The death of Flanner O'Connor at thirty-nine marked the loss of one of America's most gifted contemporary writers at the height of her powers. This volume is the collection on which she was working at the time of her death. Each of the nine stores carries her highly individual stamp, and could have been writte by no one else. Everything That Rises Must Converge is the most worth memorial that Flannery O'Connor could have left behind to be added to her three previously published books. As Elizabeth Bishop has written, "I am sure her few books will live on and on in American literature. " --back cover