McCarthy, (Charles) Cormac (1933– )

US novelist. His work is full of black humour and explosive revelation, especially the sanguinary Blood Meridian (1985). Despite his difficult, unpunctuated prose, he became a cult figure in some circles. All the Pretty Horses (1992; filmed 2000), the first volume in his USA-Mexico Border trilogy, became a bestseller.

The Crossing (1994) and Cities of the Plain (1998) are the second and third volumes of the Border trilogy.

McCarthy grew up in Tennessee, which is reflected in his work. Outer Dark (1968) and Child of God (1973) have an almost scriptural concentration on vengeful justice; the partially autobiographical Suttree (1979) explores a subterranean world of drunks and vagabonds. No Country for Old Men (2005) looks at the violent world of drug-trafficking near the Rio Grande, and The Road (2006) explores the struggle of a father and son in a post-apocalyptic USA; it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2007.