The Christ-Haunted Landscape

Book excerpt: Here are Susan Ketchin's discerning interviews with twelve southerners living and writing in the South, and along with a piece of fiction by each are her penetrating commentaries about the impact of southern religious experience on their work. A little more than a generation ago Flannery O'Connor made a startling observation about herself and her fellow southerners: “By and large,” she said, “people in the South still conceive of humanity in theological terms. While the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted. The southerner who isn't convinced of it is very much afraid that he may have been formed in the image and likeness of God.” Guided by O'Connor's perceptive commentary about southerners in general, Susan Ketchin has created a deeply revealing collection that mirrors the pervasive role of religion in the literature by the recent generation of notable southern writers. Ketchin confirms that “old-time religion” remains a potent force in the literature of the contemporary South.