Another Year For The Greatest Living American Author
If it's July 20th again, that means Cormac McCarthy - in my humble opinion the greatest living American author - is another year older. 2015 marks the beginning of his 83rd year, and with any luck we'll see the release of his long-rumored next novel, The Passenger, before the start of his 84th.
I was introduced to Mr. McCarthy's work in grad school by a writer by the name of Brian Evenson, himself a skilled writer with leanings an even darker direction than McCarthy's, after I presented a short story in a workshop, the best thing about which that could be said was a reading recommendation. So the first book I read was Outer Dark, then Blood Meridian, then, mind sufficiently blown, I started at the beginning and worked my way through The Border Trilogy (No Country for Old Men and The Road hadn't been released at the time). Since then, I've repeated the process at least three times, and McCarthy has become my go-to for literary icons. He cares about the work exclusively, eschewing all trappings of celebrity, and has dedicated himself to a mastery of his craft. He doesn't write about trifling things, fleeting things, or even pleasant things, he writes about hard realities of a wicked world where there are only two shades, black and white, good and evil, and any hue seen between is a lie of comfort. They rarely made them like Cormac McCarthy, and they sure as shit don't make them like him anymore. So celebrate an artisitic treasure while he's still with us, and get thee to a bookstore toot suite.
