“When you're a kid you have these notions about how things are going to be.... You get a little older and you pull back on some of that. I think you wind up just tryin to minimize the pain.”

American novelist and playwright of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, known for his stark, poetic prose and exploration of violence, morality, and the American South. His works like *Blood Meridian* and *No Country for Old Men* redefine literary Westerns and existential fiction.