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The critical receptions of Flannery O'Connor and Tim Gautreaux are at very different points, with O'Connor's stories clearly seen as canonical and Gautreaux still in the midst of his writing career. Yet they also have obvious connections, as Gautreaux, who lives in southern Louisiana, makes apparent in interviews:Well, naturally an influence on just about everybody writing in the South was Flannery O'Connor. She's probably the country's premier short story writer. If you analyze her stories you see she was working with tragedy, and humor, and irony. And putting all of these elements together in a technically perfect way. ... Also, you know, she was Catholic, and I can relate to that because I'm Catholic. (Gautreaux, Hebert-Leiter interview 3) More succinctly, he writes, "When I feel I'm losing my sense of humor, or that I'm becoming sentimental, I read an O'Connor story and her prose adjusts my perceptions" ("Behind the Great Stories" 1). Gautreaux's stated appreciation of O'Connor rings true when one reads his fiction, for particularly in his stories, his mix of humor and serious intent calls to mind O'Connor's best fiction.Yet even though the two authors do share essential commonalities, a salient difference emerges within their fiction: their sense of audience. As I will explain, O'Connor presents a very clear vision of her audience-her "hostile audience;' as she says in many of her essays-that she imagines herself addressing. It is an audience with a secular perspective that is uncomprehending and likely antagonistic to her Catholic vision, an audience prone to be confused and put off by her fiction. In contrast, Gautreaux has a very different conception of his audience. Gautreaux describes his audience in terms that sound warm, friendly, companionable. He imagines a broad 63
The critical receptions of Flannery O'Connor and Tim Gautreaux are at very different points, with O'Connor's stories clearly seen as canonical and Gautreaux still in the midst of his writing career. Yet they also have obvious connections, as Gautreaux, who lives in southern Louisiana, makes apparent in interviews:Well, naturally an influence on just about everybody writing in the South was Flannery O'Connor. She's probably the country's premier short story writer. If you analyze her stories you see she was working with tragedy, and humor, and irony. And putting all of these elements together in a technically perfect way. ... Also, you know, she was Catholic, and I can relate to that because I'm Catholic. (Gautreaux, Hebert-Leiter interview 3) More succinctly, he writes, "When I feel I'm losing my sense of humor, or that I'm becoming sentimental, I read an O'Connor story and her prose adjusts my perceptions" ("Behind the Great Stories" 1). Gautreaux's stated appreciation of O'Connor rings true when one reads his fiction, for particularly in his stories, his mix of humor and serious intent calls to mind O'Connor's best fiction.Yet even though the two authors do share essential commonalities, a salient difference emerges within their fiction: their sense of audience. As I will explain, O'Connor presents a very clear vision of her audience-her "hostile audience;' as she says in many of her essays-that she imagines herself addressing. It is an audience with a secular perspective that is uncomprehending and likely antagonistic to her Catholic vision, an audience prone to be confused and put off by her fiction. In contrast, Gautreaux has a very different conception of his audience. Gautreaux describes his audience in terms that sound warm, friendly, companionable. He imagines a broad 63
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