good country people...

Flannery O'Connor is hilarious and poignant.

"Mrs. Hopewell," he bagan, using her name in a way that sounded almost intimate, "I know you believe in Chrustian service."
"Well yes," she murmured.
"I know," he said and paused, looking very wise with his head cocked on one side, "that you are a good woman. Friends have told me."
Mrs. Hopewell never liked to be taken for a fool. "What are you selling?" she asked.
"Bibles," the young main said and his eye raced around the room before he added, "I see you have no family Bible in your parlor, I see that is the one lack you got!"
Mrs. Hopewell could not say, "My daughter is an athiest and won't like me keep the Bible in the parlor." She said, stiffening slightly, "I keep my Bible by my bedside." This was not the truth. It was in the attic somewhere.
"Lady," he said, "the word of God ought to be in the parlor."
[good country people]