Of the volume's nine stories, seven had been printed in magazines or literary journals prior to being collected, including three that won O. Henry Awards: "Greenleaf" (1957), "Everything That Rises Must Converge" (1963), and "Revelation" (1965).

"Judgment Day" is a dramatically reworked version of "The Geranium", which was one of O'Connor's earliest publications and appeared in her graduate thesis at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

The story's protagonist is a recent college graduate and aspiring writer named Julian who lives with his mother in an unnamed Southern city.

Julian's mother attends a weekly exercise session at the local YMCA but is wary of riding the bus by herself after the recent racial integration of the city's transportation system.

"[4] In the fifth season Lost episode, "The Incident", Jacob reads Everything That Rises Must Converge while waiting for John Locke to fall from a window.