Cormac McCarthy – Author of ‘No Country for Old Men’, dies at 89

Cormac McCarthy was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He wrote twelve novels, spanning the Southern Gothic, Western, and post-apocalyptic genres, as well as multiple short stories, screenplays, plays, and essays. His work has been praised for its stark realism, moral ambiguity, and lyrical prose.

McCarthy was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1933. He grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, and received a B.A. in English from the University of Tennessee in 1957. After college, he served in the U.S. Air Force for two years. He then moved to Chicago, where he worked as a gas station attendant and a janitor while writing his first novel, The Orchard Keeper (1965).

McCarthy’s early novels were not well-received by critics. However, he began to gain recognition in the 1970s with the publication of Outer Dark (1968), Child of God (1973), and Suttree (1979). These novels are characterized by their dark and violent subject matter, as well as their spare and poetic prose.

In 1985, McCarthy published Blood Meridian, a novel about a gang of scalp hunters in the American Southwest during the 1840s. Blood Meridian is considered one of McCarthy’s greatest works, and it has been praised for its unflinching depiction of violence and its exploration of the dark side of human nature.

In the 1990s, McCarthy began to write in a more accessible style. His novels All the Pretty Horses (1992), No Country for Old Men (2005), and The Road (2006) were all bestsellers and were adapted into successful films.

McCarthy’s work has been translated into over twenty languages and has won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. He is considered to be one of the greatest living American writers.

McCarthy died on June 13, 2023, at the age of 89. He was survived by his wife, Jennifer Winkley, and two sons, Cullen and John.

Here are some of Cormac McCarthy’s most notable achievements:

• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2007): The Road
• National Book Award for Fiction (2001): No Country for Old Men
• James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1993): All the Pretty Horses
• Guggenheim Fellowship (1979)
• National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (1969)

Critics and readers alike have praised McCarthy’s work for its stark realism, moral ambiguity, and lyrical prose. He is considered to be one of the greatest living American writers.