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.

This second episode is in preparation of delving into McCarthy’s first novel, The Orchard Keeper. The guest this week to prepare us for our journey back to 1930s Tennessee is Dianne Luce. A founding member and past president of the Cormac McCarthy Society, Dianne Luce has been working in the field of McCarthy studies since it first emerged. She co-edited with Edwin T. Arnold two collections of articles on McCarthy, and she is the author of Reading the World: Cormac McCarthy’s Tennessee Period (2009). Currently she is writing a two-volume study, based on archival research, of McCarthy’s writing life at Random House. Her most recent article is “Creativity, Madness, and ‘the light that dances deep in Pontchartrain’: Glimpses of ‘The Passenger’ from Cormac McCarthy’s 1980 Correspondence” in the Cormac McCarthy Journal. She holds faculty emeritus status from Midlands Technical College in Columbia, SC. She will join us again for the upcoming third episode on The Orchard Keeper.

Music for READING MCCARTHY is composed, performed, and produced by Thomas Frye. Interludes this week include “The World to Come,” “Running with Wolves,” Much Like Yourself,” “Toadvine” and “Blues for Blevins.”

Reach out to us at readingmccarthy@gmail.com. Download the podcast on Apple iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, and many other places.

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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 2: Approaching The Orchard Keeper

Reading McCarthy