Cormac McCarthy
His Life
Originally born Charles McCarthy was born on June 20, 1933, McCarthy later changed his first name to Cormac, the name of an Irish King. In 1937, McCarthy and his family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he graduated high school. After high school, he attend the University of Tennessee for two years (1951 to 1952) pursuing a major in liberal arts. He then dropped out to join the Air force. Here, he served for four years, then returned to the University of Tennessee to complete his major(1957-1959). He left the university again and headed for Chicago, where he became an auto mechanic while writing his first novel. During this time, he married his first out of three wives, Lee Holleman, who had also attended the University of Tennessee and was also a writer. They had one son together, Cullen McCarthy, before the couple divorced soon after.
Before his first novel was published in 1965, McCarthy went on a trip to Ireland, paid for by a grant given from a traveling fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Literature. This trip is where McCarthy met his second wife Anne DeLisle. He and DeLisle toured the world looking for a place other than America to settle down. Eventually they choose Ibiza. A few years later they moved back to the states to Rockford, Tennessee. After this he and his wife moved to Louisville, Tennessee where they renovated a barn to live in. In 1976, McCarthy and his wife were seperated. McCarthy soon after left for El Paso, Texas where he resided for many years. The couple was divorced soon after.
In 1997 McCarthy married for a thrid time to a woman named Jennifer Winkler. They had one son named John Francis who was born in 1999. In this marriage, McCarthy and his family moved to Tesque, New Mexico where he currently resides with his Wife and son. There are some gaps to his biography here since McCarthy maintains a very private life.
You can follow Cormac McCarthy on Facebook here:
Before his first novel was published in 1965, McCarthy went on a trip to Ireland, paid for by a grant given from a traveling fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Literature. This trip is where McCarthy met his second wife Anne DeLisle. He and DeLisle toured the world looking for a place other than America to settle down. Eventually they choose Ibiza. A few years later they moved back to the states to Rockford, Tennessee. After this he and his wife moved to Louisville, Tennessee where they renovated a barn to live in. In 1976, McCarthy and his wife were seperated. McCarthy soon after left for El Paso, Texas where he resided for many years. The couple was divorced soon after.
In 1997 McCarthy married for a thrid time to a woman named Jennifer Winkler. They had one son named John Francis who was born in 1999. In this marriage, McCarthy and his family moved to Tesque, New Mexico where he currently resides with his Wife and son. There are some gaps to his biography here since McCarthy maintains a very private life.
You can follow Cormac McCarthy on Facebook here:
Bibliography
During McCarthy's second run at the University of Tennessee, he published two stories: "A Drowining Incident" and "Wake For Susan". Both of thee were published in the university's student literary magazine, The Phoenix. These published stories won McCarthy his first creative writing award, the Ingram-Merrill Award, in 1959 and 1960.
After this, McCarthy went on to produce his first novel while working as an auto mechanic in Chicago. This novel, The Orchard Keeper, was published in 1965 with his editor, Albert Erksine, who worked at Random House. His Second novel, Outer Dark, was written while he and his current wife, Anne DeLisle, were traveling the world and settling in Ibiza. It was finally published by Random House in 1968; it received positive reviews. Child of God was his third novel which recieved mixed reviews. His fourth was Suttree published in 1976. This work took McCarthy some twenty years to write and is still considered his best work by many. In 1985, however, McCarthy wrote Blood Meridian. This novel overtook Suttree for McCarthy's best novel and is now generally considered his best work today. McCarthy's first publishing success came from the first installment in The Border Trilogy, All the Pretty Horses. This novel was published by Alfred A. Knopf (first book not published by Random House and is now his current publisher) in 1992 and went on to become a New York Time's best seller. Second in The Border Trilogy is The Crossing, followed by Cities of the Plain. This final installment was published in 1998 but not given as high of marks as the previous two books.In 2005, No Country for Old Men was published. This work was tuned into an award winning film created by Joel and Ethan Coen. The Road was published in 2006 and won both the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Literature and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. An interview of McCarthy by Oprah Winfrey regarding The Road and his views can be seen below (apologies for the bad quality).
After this, McCarthy went on to produce his first novel while working as an auto mechanic in Chicago. This novel, The Orchard Keeper, was published in 1965 with his editor, Albert Erksine, who worked at Random House. His Second novel, Outer Dark, was written while he and his current wife, Anne DeLisle, were traveling the world and settling in Ibiza. It was finally published by Random House in 1968; it received positive reviews. Child of God was his third novel which recieved mixed reviews. His fourth was Suttree published in 1976. This work took McCarthy some twenty years to write and is still considered his best work by many. In 1985, however, McCarthy wrote Blood Meridian. This novel overtook Suttree for McCarthy's best novel and is now generally considered his best work today. McCarthy's first publishing success came from the first installment in The Border Trilogy, All the Pretty Horses. This novel was published by Alfred A. Knopf (first book not published by Random House and is now his current publisher) in 1992 and went on to become a New York Time's best seller. Second in The Border Trilogy is The Crossing, followed by Cities of the Plain. This final installment was published in 1998 but not given as high of marks as the previous two books.In 2005, No Country for Old Men was published. This work was tuned into an award winning film created by Joel and Ethan Coen. The Road was published in 2006 and won both the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Literature and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. An interview of McCarthy by Oprah Winfrey regarding The Road and his views can be seen below (apologies for the bad quality).
