Perspectives on Cormac McCarthy

by Edwin T. Arnold (editor), Dianne C. Luce (editor)

Originally published in 1993, this was the first volume of essays devoted to the works of Cormac McCarthy. Immediately it was recognized as a major contribution to studies of this acclaimed American author. American Literary Scholarship hailed it as “a model of its kind.” It has since established itself as an essential source for any McCarthy scholar, student, or serious reader.

In 1993, McCarthy had recently published All the Pretty Horses (1992), the award-winning first volume of the “Border Trilogy.” The second volume, The Crossing , appeared in 1994, and the concluding novel, Cities of the Plain , in 1998. The completion of the trilogy, one of the most significant artistic achievements in recent American literature, calls for further consideration of McCarthy's career. This revised volume, therefore, contains in addition to the original essays an updated version of Gail Morrison's article on All the Pretty Horses , plus two original essays by the editors of The Crossing (Luce) and Cities of the Plain (Arnold). Except for McCarthy's drama, The Stonemason (1994), all the major publications are covered in this collection.

Cormac McCarthy is now firmly established as one of the masters of American literature. His first four novels, his screenplay “The Gardener's Son,” and his drama The Stonemason are all set in the South. Starting with Blood Meridian (1985), he moved west to the border country of Texas and Old and New Mexico, to create masterpieces of the western genre. Few writers have so completely and successfully described such different locales, customs, and people. Yet McCarthy is no regionalist. His work centers on the essential themes of self-determination, faith, courage, and the quest for meaning in an often violent and tragic world. For his readers wishing to know McCarthy's works this collection is both an introduction and an overview.

Genres: Nonfiction, Criticism, Literary Criticism

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 1993

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful and insightful, told with clear thought and clear voice.

Now the conundrum becomes whether I make a run for the last two Cormac books I've yet to read, or hold back a while longer so that I always have one more to enjoy.

[Jesse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don’t waste your time on this book. In addition to the fact that none of the essays exhibit the least bit of insight, they also suffer from enough factual errors to make you question how closely the authors actually read McCarthy’s novels. For example, take this line from Arnold’s essay “McCarthy’s Moral Parables”: “[W]e are reminded that when Suttree looks through his own family pictures, he likewise never appears in any of the shots” (58). Then, from that scene in the novel: “An old man came to light [in the photograph] holding a baby in his arms… That’s you, [Aunt Martha] said after a silence. This is me, [Suttree] said. Cold eyes bored at him out of the cowled coverlet” (128). See what I mean? There are too many great McCarthy studies to read one so pedestrian. It gets a slight pass for being one the first studies of McCarthy, I guess, but it’s still woefully unimpressive.

[Drew Norwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a collection that I would recommend. There are a few good essays, several mediocre ones, and several poor ones. The best part of the book was the introduction. It contains the fullest biography of Cormac McCarthy (even though it only covers through the early 1990s) that I’ve come across.

[Harry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Varying valuable criticism. Arnold pretty based.