By the author of the critically acclaimed Border Triology, Child of God is a taut, chilling novel that plumbs the depths of human degradation. Falsely accused of rape, Lester Ballard—a violent, dispossessed man who haunts the hill country of East Tennessee—is released from jail and allowed to roam at will, preying on the population with his strange lusts. A trip to the dry-goods store, an errand to the blacksmith, a bartering session at the general store are all transformed into stunning scenes of the comic and the grotesque. As the story hurtles toward its unforgettable conclusion, McCarthy depicts the most sordid aspects of life with dignity, humor, and characteristic lyrical brilliance.
Editorial Reviews
"[Child of God] demands its reader's attention from the opening sentence." —Newsweek
"McCarthy is a master stylist, perhaps without equal in American letters." —Village Voice
"A reading experience so impressive, so 'new,' so clearly well made that [it] seems almost to defy the easy aesthetic categories. . . [It is] accomplished in rare, spare, precise yet poetic prose." —New Republic
About the Author
Cormac McCarthy is an American novelist, screenwriter, and playwright who has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. A number of his works have been adapted into films, including All the Pretty Horses, The Road, and the four-time Academy Award–winning No Country for Old Men
