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The Wrong Reader's Guide to Cormac McCarthy: All the Pretty Horses
THE WRONG READER'S GUIDE TO CORMAC ALL THE PRETTY HORSES, is Josyph's book-length tribute to one of the most popular and enduring novels by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy. From his provocative, wide-ranging reflection on the impact and importance of McCarthy's dramatic poetry in prose in a chapter called "How Cormac McCarthy Saved Civilization," to close readings of seemingly small moments in the novel that for Josyph open up worlds of discovery, Josyph changes our perspective on this seminal work from one of our greatest living authors. In a work of erudition and joy,
Josyph invites noted McCarthy scholars such as Marty Priola and Wesley Morgan, as well as McCarthy's award-winning Portuguese translator, Paolo Faria, to enrich his investigations with their expertise and insights. How is the hero of the novel, John Grady Cole, like Shakespeare's Hamlet? Is it possible that he's more a Comanche than a cowboy? Can a sympathetic protagonist be equally heroic and self-destructive? Exactly what sort of town is John Grady leaving, and what Fate does he hope to find in Mexico? What does it herald in McCarthy that bells ring without any source? How do film and audio renderings of McCarthy contribute to understanding his text? In answering such questions, Josyph raises others as he—a native New Yorker—walks his great city and also travels to significant locations in the novel, such as San Angelo, Texas, where the story begins.
As with his two previous books on McCarthy, ADVENTURES IN READING CORMAC McCARTHY, and CORMAC McCARTHY'S READING McCARTHY WITHOUT WALLS, this first in a series of unconventional guides to McCarthy's work is what Josyph calls a "reader's memoir." THE WRONG READER'S GUIDE TO CORMAC ALL THE PRETTY HORSES is literary criticism as devotional text, as play, and as self-discovery.
PRAISE FOR JOSYPH ON MCCARTHY
On CORMAC MCCARTHY'S READING MCCARTHY WITHOUT WALLS, Michael Lindgren of the WASHINGTON POST "Josyph takes an aggressively unconventional approach to McCarthy's work, combining elements of travelogue, interview and memoir."
Pat Quinn of the London Times Literary Supplement "…the artist, playwright, director and actor Peter Josyph has produced an idiosyncratic and impressionistic text, a series of riffs, dialogues, anecdotes and prose poems…. Josyph shows himself capable of discriminating, and even irreverent, contemplation of his hero's corpus…. Forcefully, he makes his case for a canon within the McCarthy canon…. For Josyph, text brings you to object; this, he claims, is the point of literature, 'to touch something you never expected to find.'"
Erik Hage, writing in CHOICE, "...for experienced practitioners and well-read fans it unlocks dynamic, disparate terrain. An engaging addition to the ongoing McCarthy conversation, the book is surprising and unique in the best possible ways. Summing Highly recommended."
About ADVENTURES IN READING CORMAC MCCARTHY, Nicholas Monk (author of TRUE AND LIVING PROPHET OF CORMAC MCCARTHY AND MODERNITY) has "As with everything Peter Josyph produces, this is meticulously researched and beautifully written. The book reveals the fascinating engagement of one artist with another…. This is far from an uncritical 'homage,' however, as Josyph's acute ear for the nuances of McCarthy's texts do not permit sycophancy nor the suspension of disbelief. That Josyph recognizes McCarthy's brilliance, however, is unquestioned and this respect and admiration shines through. This is literary criticism of the old wonderfully well informed by culture broadly, grounded in reality, accessible, and a real pleasure to read."
Josyph invites noted McCarthy scholars such as Marty Priola and Wesley Morgan, as well as McCarthy's award-winning Portuguese translator, Paolo Faria, to enrich his investigations with their expertise and insights. How is the hero of the novel, John Grady Cole, like Shakespeare's Hamlet? Is it possible that he's more a Comanche than a cowboy? Can a sympathetic protagonist be equally heroic and self-destructive? Exactly what sort of town is John Grady leaving, and what Fate does he hope to find in Mexico? What does it herald in McCarthy that bells ring without any source? How do film and audio renderings of McCarthy contribute to understanding his text? In answering such questions, Josyph raises others as he—a native New Yorker—walks his great city and also travels to significant locations in the novel, such as San Angelo, Texas, where the story begins.
As with his two previous books on McCarthy, ADVENTURES IN READING CORMAC McCARTHY, and CORMAC McCARTHY'S READING McCARTHY WITHOUT WALLS, this first in a series of unconventional guides to McCarthy's work is what Josyph calls a "reader's memoir." THE WRONG READER'S GUIDE TO CORMAC ALL THE PRETTY HORSES is literary criticism as devotional text, as play, and as self-discovery.
PRAISE FOR JOSYPH ON MCCARTHY
On CORMAC MCCARTHY'S READING MCCARTHY WITHOUT WALLS, Michael Lindgren of the WASHINGTON POST "Josyph takes an aggressively unconventional approach to McCarthy's work, combining elements of travelogue, interview and memoir."
Pat Quinn of the London Times Literary Supplement "…the artist, playwright, director and actor Peter Josyph has produced an idiosyncratic and impressionistic text, a series of riffs, dialogues, anecdotes and prose poems…. Josyph shows himself capable of discriminating, and even irreverent, contemplation of his hero's corpus…. Forcefully, he makes his case for a canon within the McCarthy canon…. For Josyph, text brings you to object; this, he claims, is the point of literature, 'to touch something you never expected to find.'"
Erik Hage, writing in CHOICE, "...for experienced practitioners and well-read fans it unlocks dynamic, disparate terrain. An engaging addition to the ongoing McCarthy conversation, the book is surprising and unique in the best possible ways. Summing Highly recommended."
About ADVENTURES IN READING CORMAC MCCARTHY, Nicholas Monk (author of TRUE AND LIVING PROPHET OF CORMAC MCCARTHY AND MODERNITY) has "As with everything Peter Josyph produces, this is meticulously researched and beautifully written. The book reveals the fascinating engagement of one artist with another…. This is far from an uncritical 'homage,' however, as Josyph's acute ear for the nuances of McCarthy's texts do not permit sycophancy nor the suspension of disbelief. That Josyph recognizes McCarthy's brilliance, however, is unquestioned and this respect and admiration shines through. This is literary criticism of the old wonderfully well informed by culture broadly, grounded in reality, accessible, and a real pleasure to read."
240 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 2, 2018
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