Michael O'Connell

Michael O'Connell

Michael O'Connell is a writer, editor, and teacher who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is the author of Startling Figures: Encounters with American Catholic Fiction (Fordham University Press, 2023), editor of Conversations with George Saunders (University Press of Mississippi, 2022) and co-editor of The Journal of David Foster Wallace Studies. He writes both literary criticism and narrative nonfiction, usually on the intersections of religion, literature and contemporary culture.

By this Author

In the Catholic storytelling style reminiscent of Flannery O'Connor and Bruce Springsteen, MJ Lenderman leaves it up to the audience to decide whether his flawed characters are likely to be redeemed. (Karly Hartzman)

The Catholic storytelling tradition in MJ Lenderman's new album

While MJ Lenderman uses religious language throughout, this is not an album about spiritual longing, but about storytelling. It is up to the audience to determine if redemption is on offer here. 

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