Cormac McCarthy’s Unusual Bequest to His Son
America’s ‘greatest novelist’ has passed away, leaving a unique legacy
Stephen King called him “maybe the greatest American novelist of my time”. Yet less than one month after the passing of another literary great, Martin Amis, Cormac McCarthy has died.
Despite his huge success and the popularity of award-winning novels such as No Country for Old Men and The Road, which were both made into major films, Cormac McCarthy was famously averse to self-promotion, preferring to keep a low profile when he could.
Though many people thought of McCarthy as somewhat of a recluse, he was passionate about the outdoors, and loved climbing mountains and hiking in the wilderness.
Whenever he signed books, he would be sure to personalise them, making them a custom treasure for the recipient and limiting the chances they would be treated as a mere money-making commodity to be sold to the highest bidder.
However, McCarthy made one exception to this. He signed 250 copies of The Road with his name only and gave them to his son, John. It was McCarthy’s relationship with John that was the inspiration for The Road, so the novel was very close to both their hearts.
