Embracing Vocation: Cormac McCarthy's Writing Life, 1959-1974

by Dianne C. Luce

Revelations on craft from a foundational scholar of Cormac McCarthy

Devotees of Cormac McCarthy's novels are legion, and deservedly so. Embracing Vocation, which tells the tale of his journey to become one of America's greatest living writers, will be invaluable to scholars and literary critics―and to the many fans―interested in his work.

Dianne C. Luce, a foundational scholar of McCarthy's writing, through extensive archival research, examines the first fifteen years of his career and his earliest novels. Novel by novel, Luce traces each book's evolution. In the process she unveils McCarthy's working processes as well as his personal, literary, and professional influences, highlighting his ferocious devotion to both his craft and burgeoning art. Luce invites us to see the fascinating evolution of an American author with a unique vision all his own. Until there is a full-on biography, this study, along with Luce's previous, Reading the Cormac McCarthy's Tennessee Period, is the finest available portrait of an American genius unfolding.

Genres: Writing

316 pages, Paperback

Published January 4, 2023

Reviews

[Scott Bielinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another really excellent book on McCarthy from Luce.

McCarthy is a famously private author. We know little about his personal life and a little more about his writing habits. Thanks to Luce's dedicated work, we know a lot more now (Lamentably, we still know very little about what McCarthy was reading as he was writing these books, but Luce offered a few insights, based on some correspondence with his editor at Random House). Combing through a decade and a half worth of archival material, Luce maps out a general understanding of how McCarthy's first three books came into existence. She offers interesting interpretations of McCarthy's work along the way, even arguing against some of his editors' misunderstandings of what exactly McCarthy was trying to do in his early novels.

For me, I was most interested in reading about McCarthy's relationship with his editor, Albert Erskine, a famous editor who worked with Eudora Welty, John O'Hara, and, most famously, William Faulkner. Seeing the editorial process and the relatively elaborate system McCarthy and Erskine worked out to smooth their work together was a lot of fun. It's amazing what Luce was able to reconstruct based on their correspondence with one another. Erskine's influence upon McCarthy was profound, and one has to be simply grateful for Erskine's foresight and confidence in McCarthy to grow and develop into, as he is often lauded, America's greatest living writer.

As I mentioned, Luce also continues to interpret McCarthy's works and reveal some of the deeper meanings of his early three novels. For example, Luce helped me to understand how Orchard Keeper and Outer Dark have Macbeth constantly in the background. Though most of her literary/textual work is in her excellent book, Reading the World, Luce continues to highlight the complexities of McCarthy's narrative techniques, showing how and why the published work offers a heightened reading experience because of how McCarthy crafted, re-arranged, and clarified his writing alongside Erskine. For example, Luce cites a time when, in writing Child of God, McCarthy defends a "literary tic" against Erskine. If you read any of McCarthy's books, you'll come across his very idiosyncratic use of the word "some" as a door into an obscure metaphor or simile. Luce very astutely notes that "the 'some' similes and metaphors characterize the pensive, questing narrative mind" (258), a feature of McCarthy's narrators, itself a metaphor for the human mind trying to comprehend and determine the indeterminate. All types of interesting and brilliant insights into McCarthy's literary style like this are offered throughout the book.

If you're a fan of McCarthy, Luce has provided you with another must-read.

[Drew Norwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This book offers a fascinating peak behind the curtain on Cormac McCarthy's writing process and communications with his editors. You hear discussions of punctuation, possible titles, the difficulty of the writing, and also how to present certain themes and motifs. Plus, biographical nuggets are sprinkled throughout, which is always a plus (especially until a biography is released).

I haven't read the chapters on Outer Dark or Child of God yet. I intend to revisit this book whenever I read those novels again.

[James Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal.
The working relationship of McCarthy and ace editor Albert Erskine is the heartbeat of the book.
Unfortunately I believe we’ve seen the last of such brilliant “literary men” (and women). It’s all TikTok and plot twists from here on out, boys. But the band plays on.

[Gavin Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A humbling work of scholarship.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I've only read the part regarding Child of God (I haven't read The Orchard Keeper or Outer Dark, yet.))
this is an incredible work of scholarship. Fastidiously researched. Luce lucidly discuses how McCarthy's correspondences and reading habits relate to his novel(s)--illuminating.
Hence the name, the text also provided insight into the tension between sheer unmitigated dedication to writing to which McCarthy aspired and the reality of life with its logistical, economical, and social matters that he had to deal with.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Endlessly fascinating. Gonna have to read all Alice’s McCarthy work at some point.

[Austin Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diane Luce has provided us with another wonderful work of insight into McCarthy's writing career with Embracing Vocation. There is very little biographical information out there about McCarthy, particularly for this formative early period. Luce's book serves double duty by providing both analytical insight into McCarthy's methods as he became a professional writer and also by contextualizing this information with what was happening in his life at the time. Frankly, so much of McCarthy's entire career was set on course in those early years in Knoxville, New Orleans, the Air Force, his marriages, and his European travels.

This book has brought up new curiosities and I'm particularly interested in the editing and revision process of his later years when he was regarded as one of the language's greatest writers. How strong of a hand did his editor have at that time have, could anyone have had? Many questions that I'm sure Luce would give enormous insight to. This book is a wonderful resource and I hope that Luce continues with similar books on the years that follow.