Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor

Wise Blood, Flannery O'Connor's astonishing and haunting first novel, is a classic of twentieth-century literature. It is the story of Hazel Motes, a twenty-two-year-old caught in an unending struggle against his innate, desperate faith. He falls under the spell of a "blind" street preacher names Asa Hawks and his degenerate fifteen-year-old daughter, Lily Sabbath. In an ironic, malicious gesture of his own non-faith, and to prove himself a greater cynic than Hawks, Hazel Motes founds the The Church Without Christ, but is still thwarted in his efforts to lose God. He meets Enoch Emery, a young man with "wise blood," who leads him to a mummified holy child, and whose crazy maneuvers are a manifestation of Hazel's existential struggles. This tale of redemption, retribution, false prophets, blindness, blindings, and wisdom gives us one of the most consuming characters in modern fiction.

The 543rd greatest fiction book of all time


This book is on the following lists:

  1. - 9th on The Best Southern Novels of All Time (Oxford American)
  2. - 41st on D. G. Myers’ 50 Greatest English Language Novels (D. G. Myers)
  3. - 56th on 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction (Larry McCaffery)
  4. - 62nd on The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time: The List (The Observer)
  5. - 82nd on In Which These Are the 100 Greatest Novels (ThisRecording.com)
  6. - 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (The Book)

Buy This Book

Name Binding Sales Rank Lowest New Lowest Used Published
Wise blood Hardcover 3610865 $148.63
Three by Flannery O'Connor : Wise Blood; The Violent Bear It Away; Everything That Rises Must Converge Mass Market Paperback 4901643 $3.00
Three by Flannery O'connor: Wise Blood/ The Violent Bear It Away/ Everything That Rises Must Converge Paperback 2096658 $2.95 1983
Wise Blood: A Novel Paperback 574842 $0.01 $0.01 1990
Wise Blood Audio CD 1211607 $18.19 $13.82 2010
O'Connor: Collected Works (Library of America) Hardcover 3504069 $20.00 $19.97 1988
Wise blood Hardcover 4006850 $49.95
Wise Blood: A Novel Paperback 1322855 $6.53 $4.33 2007
Wise Blood Paperback 781386 $9.58 2021
Wise Blood Paperback 2483797 $2.78 1980
Wise Blood Paperback 1341748 $5.99 $5.99
By Flannery O'Connor Wise Blood: A Novel (1st First Edition) [Paperback] Paperback 1938322 $19.86 $13.85 1990
Wise Blood Audio CD 5226235 $47.86 $21.00
Wise Blood Audible Audio Edition 8724 $10.95 2010
Wise Blood: A Novel Kindle Edition 17471 $8.89 2007
Wise Blood (Faber Library) Hardcover 5927077 $167.30 $99.99 1996
Three by Flannery O'Connor: Wise Blood, The Violent Bear It Away, Everything That Rises Must Converge Mass Market Paperback 1705655 $19.68 $0.25 1986
Wise Blood: Classics Novel Kindle Edition 173437 2019
Three by Flannery O'Connor - Wise Blood, A Good Man Is Hard to Find, The Violent Bear It Away Hardcover 901372 $33.33 1962
Flannery O'Connor : Collected Works : Wise Blood / A Good Man Is Hard to Find / The Violent Bear It Away / Everything that Rises Must Converge / Essays & Letters (Library of America) Hardcover 98132 $25.47 $10.04 1988
Wise Blood: A Novel (FSG Classics) Paperback 62858 $6.79 $1.36 2007