Estrogenmonger Oprah Winfrey has announced (New York Times) that her next book club selection will be legendarily reclusive man-author Cormac McCarthy’s 2006
post-apocalyptic dirge The Road. McCarthy, widely admired for writing books such as Blood
Meridian, in which an exuberant group of maniac scalphunters
murders and screws their way across the gloomy landscape of the Great
American West, has garnered some fame with his less-demented fare, notably
All the Pretty Horses, which chronicles a young Texans’ travels
in Mexico. Filmmaking brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, known for
light-hearted, inspirational fare, are also releasing No Country
for Old Men next year, adapted from McCarthy’s blood-soaked
suitcase-full-of-money tale of the same name.
It’s heavy stuff, and The Road isn’t exactly Book Club fare,
either - it follows a man and his son in their doomed journey through
a devastated post-nuclear war America. Stylistically, it’s less
baroque and Faulknerian than, say, Suttree, but Oprahs’ readers
might be somewhat shocked by the various miseries inflicted upon
The Road’s unhappy protagonists: cities turned to ash,
cannibalistic “Blood Cults,” baby-eating freaks, the existential
horror of really understanding why one should have voted for Kerry.
It’s stark, miserable (though gripping) stuff, and Oprah gets many,
many props for choosing such a provocative book. He’s one of my
favorite authors, although in every book of his there are scenes I
wish I could un-read. Really, who needs to know about the existence of
the Vinegaroon?
McCarthy will also give his first ever on-screen interview on
Oprah. This may come as some surprise to anyone familiar with
McCarthy; like fellow-hermits Salinger and Pynchon, he almost never
emerges from his lair to speak with the press. And on Oprah, of
all shows? That’s like Leonard Cohen showing up on Dr. Phil to
talk about his romantic problems. McCarthy’s publisher is,
understandably, thrilled - they’re printing a gazillion paperback
copies of his book in preparation for the swarming hordes of
Oprahmaniacs soon to descend upon Barnes & Nobleses everywhere,
clamoring for a copy, and no doubt trying unsuccessfully to convince
ol’ Cormy to appear on, say, Montel. Either way, it will be
nice to see such a good author get the attention he deserves, and
really interesting to see how Oprah handles such disquieting material.
Set your TiVOs!
