[TimBone]

Originally Posted by NewChief

All the Pretty Horses is nice and not too insane.

Blood Meridian if you want to dive into the deep end.

The Road, imo, really isn't indicative of the rest of his work.

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

AtPH is probably his best, but I REALLY liked Blood Meridian. Difference being, I read AtPH hardcover, . . . and listened to Blood Meridian on tape while on long trips, so I consumed it passively, in 3-4 hour chunks, a week or two at a time.

So I can't speak to NC's 'off the deep end' remark, except it really is a descent into a hellscape. Basically deeper and deeper doo-doo in the lawless old west. Think if Apocalypse Now was set in the Mexico territories.

But it stuck with me and I enjoyed it a lot.

And I agree, The Road is a much more sparse, spare, dire work.

If I were starting new, I'd warm up with Elmore Leonard shorts, then move to AtPH, then BM, then The Road from Cormac.

BEP's recommendation of McCourt will seem like a fellow traveller to McCarthy, McMurtry and Leonard, though he has a vastly different, autobiographical, story to tell.

McCarthy sounds like he at least deserves my attention for one novel. Thanks for the info, guys. CP has once again given me the hook up.