All of the times that Flannery O’Connor mentions Carson McCullers in her letters collected in The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O’Connor:
I read in the paper that Carson McCullers is going to have a play shortly to be called The Square Root of Wonderful—a title that makes me cringe. (8 Oct. 1957)
…Paul Levine [is] preparing a book on 6 writers—McCullers, Capote, Buechner, Bellow, Salinger, and me… (25 June 1960)
I haven’t read [Frederick] Buechner myself, but if I was writing it I would throw out Capote in favor of Malamud and Carson McCullers in favor of [J.F.] Powers. (9 July 1960)
Last week Houghton Mifflin sent me a book called Clock Without Hands by Carson McCullers. This long-awaited-by-the-faithful book will come out in September. I believe it is the worst book I have ever read. It is incredible…It must signal the complete disintegration of this woman’s talent. I have forgotten how the other three were, but they were at least respectable from the writing standpoint. (26 July 1961)
If you ever go to the Albee-McCullers [play] let me know what you think about it? … Did you ever consider Wise Blood as a possibility for dramatizing? If the times were different I would suggest that, but I think it would just be taken for the super-grotesque sub-Carson McCullers sort of thing that I couldn’t stand the sight or sound of. (5 Nov. 1963)
I was interested in the reviews of the Carson McCullers adaptation. I dislike intensely the work of Carson McCullers but it is interesting to see what is made of it in the theatre, and by Edward Albee at that. (28 Nov. 1963)
Biblioklept 
Great! Thanks a lot!
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Dang. Flannary rubbishing Clock Without Hands by comparing it unfavourably to past McCullers work she claims to barely remember is quite salty. She doth protest too much, I think.
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McCullers didn’t like O’Connor’s stuff either…thought she was imitating her.
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My my ain’t we bitchy.
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O’Conner was jealous because McCullers wrote at least 2 novels better than anything O’Connor wrote. Ballad and Heart.
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Apples & oranges.
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[…] and McCullers were both southern and wrote southern gothic fiction). Apparently O’Connor wasn’t such a fan of McCullers; interesting. The book was really atmospheric and just tied in well to my introspective bent and […]
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