Although Frank O'Connor's short stories have never lacked admirers, his painstaking creative method has received little critical attention. This book is the first full-length study of that arduous process, sometimes lasting for a decade, from a skeletal idea or anecdote through a succession of revisions to wholly realized fiction. It includes much previously unknown and unpublished material, providing new insights into "First Confession, " "Judas, " "The Genius, " "Orpheus and his Lute, " "The Little Mother, " and other stories. Examining the process reveals much about O'Connor's perception of his craft and the environment from which his art emerged.