“In the end we all come to be cured of our sentiments. Those whom life does not cure death will. The world is quite ruthless in selecting between the dream and reality, even where we will not. Between the wish and the thing the world lies waiting. I've thought a great deal about my life and my country. I think there is little that can be truly known. My family has been fortunate. Others were less so. As they are often quick to point out.”

American author

Cormac McCarthy was an American author known for fiction and drama that moved across the Western, post-apocalyptic, and Southern Gothic traditions. He is credited with twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays, and three short stories. His work is marked by stark violence, spare punctuation, and minimal use of quotation attributions. Across those books and scripts, he developed a voice that is lean, severe, and closely associated with the American literary canon.