Child of God

Child of God is Southern gothic literature in the same category as Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor. But the grotesque protagonist is so clownish and endearing and the plot is so outlandish that it comes of as a parody of Faulkner or O'Connor, which may well have been McCarthy's intent. Racism, lynchings, and incest all form the cultural background for the ridiculously morbid actions of Lester Ballard, who doesn't know how to interact with people, dead or alive. It's well worth your time if you enjoy Southern literature and a really quick read under 200 pages.

film-of-the-book update : None other than James (I'm handsome and I can do anything) Franco directed a version of this last year & I just saw it; and - damn, James, I hate to say this but - it was really good! And faithful! Really great performance by Scott Haze as Lester. You probably shouldn't watc......more

Child of God: Cormac McCarthy's Outcast First edition, Random House, New York, New York, 1973 "He moves in the dry chaff among the dust and slats of sunlight with a constrained truculence. Saxon and Celtic bloods. A child of God much like yourself perhaps. The setting is Sevier County, Tennesse......more