No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men is a 1980 novel by Cormac McCarthy that follows the story of Llewelyn Moss, a Vietnam veteran who stumbles upon a transaction gone wrong and finds himself in a terrifying chain of events. The novel is praised for its dark morality and its exploration of the darker human impulses.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 04 August 2022
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

In the desolate backwaters of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men, a tale of one man's dark opportunity and the darker consequences that spiral forth, savage violence and cruel morality reign supreme. Adapted for the screen by the Coen Brothers, who have won four Academy Awards (including Best Picture), this film is a fast, powerful read steeped in a deep sorrow about the moral degradation of the legendary American West.

Llewelyn Moss, a Vietnam veteran, is hunting antelope near the Rio Grande when he stumbles upon a transaction gone horribly wrong. Finding bullet-ridden bodies, several kilos of heroin, and a caseload of cash, he faces a choice: leave the scene as he found it or cut the money and run. Choosing the latter, he knows, will change everything.

And so begins a terrifying chain of events, in which each participant seems determined to answer the question that one asks another: how does a man decide in what order to abandon his life? It's hard to think of a contemporary writer more worth reading, and this book is part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.

Praise for Cormac McCarthy: 'McCarthy worked close to some religious impulse, his books were terrifying and absolute - Anne Enright, author of The Green Road and The Wren, The Wren. His prose takes on an almost biblical quality, hallucinatory in its effect and evangelical in its power - Stephen King, author of The Shining and the Dark Tower series. In presenting the darker human impulses in his rich prose, [McCarthy] showed readers the necessity of facing up to existence - Annie Proulx, author of Brokeback Mountain.

Weight: 232g
Dimension: 130 x 197 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781035003785