This book reconsiders Flannery O'Connor, known primarily for her Catholicism. By recovering the historical circumstances in which Flannery O'Connor wrote her fiction, Jon Lance Bacon reveals an artist concerned with the cultural effects of the conflict that dominated American political discourse after 1945: the Cold War. O'Connor resisted the consensus that demanded uncritical celebration of American life - including consumerism. Bacon relates her fiction to political texts, sociological studies, advertisements, movies, television programmes, paintings, editorial cartoons and comic books. This interdisciplinary approach transforms O'Connor from a regional writer, with a religious message that transcends social and political questions, into a national figure, with a secure place in literary histories that address such questions.