Was Cormac McCarthy a horrible guy?

There are few things stranger than reading a highly anticipated new book — in this case, Tracy Daugherty’s biography “Cormac McCarthy: A Legacy Revisited” (St.Martin’s Press, Oct.

6) — only to find yourself cited in it.My admittedly slight contribution to the afterlife of McCarthy was to have written an article in 2024 that asked, after various unsavory revelations concerning his private life appeared, “Is Cormac McCarthy finished?” I concluded that those bombshells were only the beginning of a bizarre and unpleasant story that would only become more bizarre and unpleasant — all of which could consign the literary titan to the reputational trash can.Daugherty’s unenviable task in “Cormac McCarthy” is to gaze inside that metaphorical trash can.

Also found disposed inside the same bin: Philip Roth, Ernest Hemingway and sundry other Great Men.That Daugherty succeeds in producing a measured, insightful account of a man who once said he found discussion of his life “embarrassing” is impressive.Certainly, McCarthy did his best to convince everyone around him not to delve too deeply into his misdemeanors.

Daugherty writes that “McCarthy discouraged interviewers hoping to probe his personal life by telling them that his novel ‘Child of God’ (1973), the story of a murdering necrophiliac, was ‘semi-autobiographical.’ ” As one friend said of him, “He didn’t give a damn.He lived life on his own terms — more so than anyone I have ever known.” This uncompromising, often selfish existence had its origins in a tough childhood.

McCarthy’s father, Charles, was physically abusive to him and his brother Bill, and his mother suffered from fragile mental health that often saw her confined to mental institutions.Yet Charles could also be empathetic and caring.When he saw Cormac’s drinking and wild youthful behavior, he wrote him a note: “To see you wasting your magnificent talents and rushing headlong into a life of unhappiness s...