Child of God

Child of God by Cormac McCarthy is the story of an anti-social necrophiliac hillbilly named Ballard who roams the hills of Tennessee killing young women and then… well let’s just say the feel good hit of the summer it is not.

It’s a short book and it has much of what I have come love about McCarthy’s writing.  It’s nowhere near as good as Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Horses, or No Country For Old Men but it’s a fairly good introduction to McCarthy.

On the other hand if you haven’t read any of Cormac McCarthy’s books, then I recommend Child of God with some hesitation.  Perhaps All the Pretty Horses would be a better place to start, perhaps not.

If you’re in the mood for a dark, weird, and oddly humorous romp through rural Tennessee with one of the most bizarre characters in contemporary American literature (at one point Ballard wears the skin of one of his victims, beating Buffalo Bill to the punch by some 15 years) then pick up a copy of Child of God.