Books

New York: Random House, 1979. First edition of the author's fourth novel and what many consider to be his finest. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Barbara with love Cormac." With a photograph laid in of McCarthy with his arms around the recipient and his then wife Ann Delisle. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by Jack Ribik. Suttree is the fourth of McCarthy's novels to be published, but he had started it well before his first, The Orchard Keeper, appeared in 1965 to great critical acclaim. The principle scene of Suttree is Knoxville, Tennessee in the early 1950's. The central figure, Cornelius Suttree, is a fisherman who lives in a dilapidated houseboat on the river. Estranged from his prominent family, he has withdrawn from the society they represent, choosing instead a different world inhabited by people who live precarious, desperate, often violent lives. "McCarthy is a writer…

Published in 1979, 'Suttree' by Cormac McCarthy is a narrative that captures the life of Cornelius Suttree, a man who has parted from a life of affluence to exist on the margins of society along the Tennessee River. It is a detailed portrayal of Suttree's relationships, struggles, and observations of the denizens inhabiting the river's periphery. The novel is often described as a departure from McCarthy's earlier works, introducing elements of dark humor and a sprawling, descriptive style.