The guest for Episode 18 is so interesting and diverse that he has sprawled into two episodes!   Author, Actor, Artist, Auteur, and more, Peter Josyph’s books include The Wrong Reader’s Guide to Cormac McCarthy: All the Pretty Horses; Adventures in Reading Cormac McCarthy; Cormac McCarthy’s House: Reading McCarthy Without Walls; Liberty Street: Encounters at Ground Zero; The Way of the Trumpet; What One Man Said to Another: Talks With Richard Selzer; and The Wounded River, which was a New York Times Notable Book of 1993. His films include the award-winning Liberty Street: Alive at Ground Zero; Shakespeare in New York; Hell; Bardtalk; A Few Things Basquiat Did in School; and Acting McCarthy: The Making of Billy Bob Thornton’s All the Pretty Horses. As a painter his McCarthy-related exhibitions have shown around the world, including Luleo, Sweden; Coventry, England; Sydney, Australia; and here in the states in in Berea, Kentucky; in El Paso; and in Santa Barbara. As an actor he has played, among many other roles, the character of White in The Sunset Limited at the Weisiger Theatre at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. He is a frequent keynote speaker for the Cormac McCarthy Society, and he currently lectures on film for the Frick Estate Lectures at Nassau County Museum of Art on Long Island.

Peter’s songs with band Corporeal Punishment, “Wesley’s Song” and “Suttree’s Song,” from his McCarthy Variations, are included in the show.  The intro and outro songs and other pieces are, as always, composed, performed, and produced by Thomas Frye.  The views of the host and his guests do not necessarily reflect the views of their home institutions or the Cormac McCarthy Society.  We are on Twitter and may be reached at [email protected].  Peter Josyph will rejoin us in the next episode. 

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Starting in spring of 2023, the podcast began accepting minor sponsorship offers to offset the costs of the podcast. This may cause a mild disconnect in earlier podcasts where the host asks for patrons in lieu of sponsorships. But if we compare it to a very large and naked bald man in the middle of the desert who leads you to an extinct volcano to create gunpowder, it seems pretty minor...

Episode 17 is an epic consideration of McCarthy’s first great epic novel, Suttree. Our returning guest is Dr. Dianne Luce.  Dianne Luce is a founding member and past president of the Cormac McCarthy Society.  She has co-edited two collections of articles on McCarthy, and she is the author of Reading the World: Cormac McCarthy’s Tennessee Period (2009).  Recently she has been writing a two-volume study of McCarthy’s writing life at Random House through examination of archival research.  She holds faculty emeritus status from Midlands Tech in Columbia, SC.

The title of this episode, by the way, comes from the most excellent Wes Morgan, who has documented many of the places about Knoxville used in the novel on his "Searching for Suttree" website:  https://web.utk.edu/~wmorgan/Suttree/suttree.htm

Thanks to Thomas Frye, who composed, performed, and produced the music for READING MCCARTHY.  Included are (as Intro): “The World to Come” and as the Outro: “Blues for Blevins.”  Also included, by Peter Josyph and the mighty mighty band Corporal Punishment, “Suttree’s Song.”

The views of the host and his guests do not necessarily reflect the views of their home institutions or the Cormac McCarthy Society.

Our website: https://readingmccarthy.buzzsprout.com/

And e-mail: readingmccarthy (@) gmail.com

Support the show

Starting in spring of 2023, the podcast began accepting minor sponsorship offers to offset the costs of the podcast. This may cause a mild disconnect in earlier podcasts where the host asks for patrons in lieu of sponsorships. But if we compare it to a very large and naked bald man in the middle of the desert who leads you to an extinct volcano to create gunpowder, it seems pretty minor...

Our guest for Episode 16 is Michael Crews, author of Books are Made out of Books: A guide to Cormac McCarthy’s Literary Influences, published by the University of Texas Press in 2017.  Dr. Crews is an Associate Professor of English and chair of English and Communication Studies at Regents University.  He explains his work delving into the McCarthy archives of the Wittliff Collection in his quest for the writers and texts who have influenced the works of Cormac McCarthy.  

Thanks to Thomas Frye, who composed, performed, and produced the music for READING MCCARTHY.  Included are (as Intro): “The World to Come”;  “Toadvine” (8:02); “Running with Wolves” (12:24); “Much Like Yourself” (31:51); and as the Outro: “Blues for Blevins.”

The views of the host and his guests do not necessarily reflect the views of their home institutions or the Cormac McCarthy Society.

Our website: https://readingmccarthy.buzzsprout.com/

And e-mail: readingmccarthy (@) gmail.com

Support the show

Starting in spring of 2023, the podcast began accepting minor sponsorship offers to offset the costs of the podcast. This may cause a mild disconnect in earlier podcasts where the host asks for patrons in lieu of sponsorships. But if we compare it to a very large and naked bald man in the middle of the desert who leads you to an extinct volcano to create gunpowder, it seems pretty minor...

Episode 15 is a dive into McCarthy’s first produced and published screenplay, The Gardener’s Son. The guest on this episode is Dr. Stacey Peebles, Chair of the English program, Director of Film Studies, and the Marlene and David Grissom Professor of Humanities at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.  She is the author of Welcome to the Suck: Narrating the American Soldier's Experience in Iraq (2011) and Cormac McCarthy and Performance: Page, Stage, Screen (2017).  She is editor of the collection Violence in Literature and, with Ben West, is co-editor of the volume Approaches to Teaching the Works of Cormac McCarthy, which is forthcoming this year.  She has been editor of the Cormac McCarthy Journal since 2010.  

Thanks to Thomas Frye, who composed, performed, and produced the music for READING MCCARTHY.  Included are Intro: “World to Come”;  “Running with Wovlves” (29:38); “Much Like Yourself” (42:20); Outro: “Blues for Blevins.”

The views of the host and his guests do not necessarily reflect the views of their home institutions or the Cormac McCarthy Society.

Support the show

Starting in spring of 2023, the podcast began accepting minor sponsorship offers to offset the costs of the podcast. This may cause a mild disconnect in earlier podcasts where the host asks for patrons in lieu of sponsorships. But if we compare it to a very large and naked bald man in the middle of the desert who leads you to an extinct volcano to create gunpowder, it seems pretty minor...

Episode 14 is a consideration of McCarthy and faith.  Today’s guest Dr. Bryan Vescio is Professor and Chair of English at High Point University in North Carolina.  He has previously taught at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Missouri Southern State University, and DePaul University.  He is the author of the 2014 book Reconstruction in Literary Studies: An Informalist Approach, as well as numerous articles on American authors including Mark Twain, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Nathanael West. He has published articles on works by McCarthy including Suttree, Blood Meridian, and The Road.  

Thanks to Thomas Frye, who composed, performed, and produced the music for READING MCCARTHY.  Included are Intro: “World to Come”;  @18:58, “Toadvine”; @30:32, “Much Like Yourself”; Outro: “Blues for Blevins.”

The views of the host and his guests do not necessarily reflect the views of their home institutions or the Cormac McCarthy Society.

Support the show

Starting in spring of 2023, the podcast began accepting minor sponsorship offers to offset the costs of the podcast. This may cause a mild disconnect in earlier podcasts where the host asks for patrons in lieu of sponsorships. But if we compare it to a very large and naked bald man in the middle of the desert who leads you to an extinct volcano to create gunpowder, it seems pretty minor...

Episode 13 of READING MCCARTHY is a look behind the curtains of the Cormac McCarthy Society’s webpage with webmaster, writers, critic, book collector, and aficionado Marty Priola.  

Mary Priola holds a bachelor’s degree from Christian Brothers University and a JD from the University of Memphis. He has written two entries on McCarthy for the DICTIONARY OF LITERARY BIOGRAPHY. His writing is also featured in exchanges with Peter Josyph in CORMAC MCCARTHY’S HOUSE: READING MCCARTHY WITHOUT WALLS and THE WRONG READER’S GUIDE TO CORMAC MCCARTHY: ALL THE PRETTY HORSES, which he edited and published in its first (ebook) form.  He started the Cormac McCarthy society website before there even was a society. 

The music for READING MCCARTHY is composed, performed, and produced by Thomas Frye.  Songs for this podcast include “The World to Come” (intro), “Blues for Blevins” (Outro), “Running with Wolves” (14:27), “Toadvine” (29:09), and “Much Like Yourself” (at 34:05).

Please reach out to us at [email protected]. 

Support the show

Starting in spring of 2023, the podcast began accepting minor sponsorship offers to offset the costs of the podcast. This may cause a mild disconnect in earlier podcasts where the host asks for patrons in lieu of sponsorships. But if we compare it to a very large and naked bald man in the middle of the desert who leads you to an extinct volcano to create gunpowder, it seems pretty minor...

Episode 12 of READING MCCARTHY is a thorough rumination of the influences of Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner on the works and style of Cormac McCarthy.   Our guest today is Faulkner scholar and critic Dr. Jay Watson.  

Jay Watson is Distinguished Professor of English and Howry Professor of Faulkner Studies at the University of Mississippi, where he also directs the annual Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha conference. He is author or editor of thirteen books, most recently a monograph, WILLIAM FAULKNER AND THE FACES OF MODERNITY, and a coedited collection, FAULKNER AND SLAVERY.

 The music for READING MCCARTHY is composed, performed, and produced by Thomas Frye.  Songs for this podcast include “The World to Come” (intro), “Blues for Blevins” (Outro), “Much Like Yourself” (at 10:00), “Running with Wolves” (38:36), and “Toadvine” (53:35).  

Please reach out to [email protected]. 

Support the show

Starting in spring of 2023, the podcast began accepting minor sponsorship offers to offset the costs of the podcast. This may cause a mild disconnect in earlier podcasts where the host asks for patrons in lieu of sponsorships. But if we compare it to a very large and naked bald man in the middle of the desert who leads you to an extinct volcano to create gunpowder, it seems pretty minor...

Episode 11 of READING MCCARTHY is a deep consideration  of perhaps McCarthy’s most troubling novel, CHILD OF GOD.  Our guest today is Dr. Bill Hardwig, who was with us before for a discussion of the southern gothic.  

Bill Hardwig is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Tennessee. His book Upon Provincialism: Southern Literature and National Periodical Culture, 1870-1900  was published by the University of Virginia Press in 2013.  He has edited critical editions of In the Tennessee Mountains by Mary Murfree and a forthcoming edition of Evelyn Scott’s Background in Tennessee and is co-editor with Susanna Ashton of Approaches to Teaching the Works of Charles W. Chesnutt in the MLA teaching series.   He has written and published various essays on McCarthy and is currently working on a book-length study of McCarthy’s fiction tentatively titled How Cormac Works: McCarthy, Language, and Style.  He is also creator of the website Literary Knox (www.literaryknox.com), which presents the rich literary history of the city in which he lives and works, Knoxville, Tennessee.

The music for READING MCCARTHY is composed, performed, and produced by Thomas Frye.  Songs for this podcast include “The World to Come” (intro), “Blues for Blevins” (Outro), “Toadvine” (at 9:20), “Running with Wolves” (22:17), and “Much Like Yourself” (the first half at 39:53, the second half at 51:27).  

Please reach out to [email protected]. 

Support the show

Starting in spring of 2023, the podcast began accepting minor sponsorship offers to offset the costs of the podcast. This may cause a mild disconnect in earlier podcasts where the host asks for patrons in lieu of sponsorships. But if we compare it to a very large and naked bald man in the middle of the desert who leads you to an extinct volcano to create gunpowder, it seems pretty minor...

Episode 10 of Reading McCarthy welcomes as a guest McCarthy’s translator into Portuguese, Paulo Faria. Paulo Faria was born in 1967, in Lisbon, Portugal. He graduated in Biology and teaches science, but he always had a passion for literature. He became a literary translator as a young man. In 2016 he published his first novel, «Strange war of common use», and his third novel has just been published in Portugal.  He has translated each of McCarthy’s novels into Portuguese.  This wide-ranging conversation touches upon the difficulties of translating complex authors, Paulo’s experience in meeting McCarthy, a consideration of Don Delillo, and much more. 

Thanks to Thomas Frye, who composed, performed, and produced the music for READING MCCARTHY.  His music includes “The World to Come” (intro), “Blues for Blevins” (Outro) and “Toadvine” (at 5:34).  Additionally we have songs from Peter Josyph in this episode: “Wesley’s Song” and “Suttree’s Song” from McCarthy Variations, at 19:44 and 38:56 (“Suttree’s Song” is repeated as a second outro).

Support the show

Starting in spring of 2023, the podcast began accepting minor sponsorship offers to offset the costs of the podcast. This may cause a mild disconnect in earlier podcasts where the host asks for patrons in lieu of sponsorships. But if we compare it to a very large and naked bald man in the middle of the desert who leads you to an extinct volcano to create gunpowder, it seems pretty minor...

READING MCCARTHY is a podcast devoted to the consideration and discussion of the works of one of our greatest American writers, Cormac McCarthy.  Each episode calls upon different well-known Cormackian readers and scholars to help us explore different works and various essential aspects of McCarthy’s writing.  Scott Yarbrough is your host in these deep dives into the world of McCarthy. 

Episode 9 of Reading McCarthy welcomes back Dr. Steven Frye in a consideration of the influence of American author Herman Melville on Cormac McCarthy.  Steven Frye is professor and chair of English at California State University, Bakersfield and President of the Cormac McCarthy Society. He is the author of Understanding Cormac McCarthy (Univ. of South Carolina Press) and editor of The Cambridge Companion to Cormac McCarthy, and Cambridge UP’s Cormac McCarthy in Context. His book Unguessed Kinships: Naturalism and the Geography of Hope in Cormac McCarthy is near completion, and he has written numerous journal articles on Cormac McCarthy and other authors of the American Romance Tradition.  Additionally, he is the author of the recently published novel Dogwood Crossing, which I highly recommend.

Music for READING MCCARTHY is composed, performed, and produced by Thomas Frye.  The Intro is “The World to Come”; other music includes (16:46) “Running with Wolves,” (23:20) “Toadvine,” (43:26) “Much Like Yourself,” and the Outro, as always, is “Blues for Blevins.” 

The opinions of the host and his guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions of their institutions or the Cormac McCarthy Society. 

Reach us at [email protected], or find us on Facebook or Twitter.

Support the show

Starting in spring of 2023, the podcast began accepting minor sponsorship offers to offset the costs of the podcast. This may cause a mild disconnect in earlier podcasts where the host asks for patrons in lieu of sponsorships. But if we compare it to a very large and naked bald man in the middle of the desert who leads you to an extinct volcano to create gunpowder, it seems pretty minor...