Child of God | 
| Author: Cormac Mccarthy
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $7.79
You Save: $6.16 (44%)
New (43) Used (30) from $7.79
Avg. Customer Rating:  52 reviews
Sales Rank: 7910
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 0.6
ISBN: 0679728740
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780679728740
ASIN: 0679728740
Publication Date: June 29, 1993
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW
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Amazon.com
"Scuttling down the mountain with the thing on his back he looked like a man beset by some ghast succubus, the dead girl riding him with legs bowed akimbo like a monstrous frog." Child of God must be the most sympathetic portrayal of necrophilia in all of literature. The hero, Lester Ballard, is expelled from his human family and ends up living in underground caves, which he peoples with his trophies: giant stuffed animals won in carnival shooting galleries and the decomposing corpses of his victims. Cormac McCarthy's much-admired prose is suspenseful, rich with detail, and yet restrained, even delicate, in its images of Lester's activities. So tightly focused is the story on this one "child of God" that it resembles a myth, or parable. "You could say that he's sustained by his fellow men, like you.... A race that gives suck to the maimed and the crazed, that wants their wrong blood in its history and will have it."
Product Description
In this taut, chilling novel, Lester Ballard--a violent, dispossessed man falsely accused of rape--haunts the hill country of East Tennessee when he is released from jail.While telling his story, Cormac McCarthy depicts the most sordid aspects of life with dignity, humor, and characteristic lyrical brilliance.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 47 more reviews...
 Sick! But interesting and a dark and desperate adventure. June 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Child of God" is a story of a poor, lonesome and demented redneck named Lester trying to survive in a poor redneck town. From the beginning we see that he has gotten the boot from society (be it as it may) and has been forgotten and left on his own to survive and pursue his own interests, which are very sick and wrong. But he doesn't seem to realize he is doing anything wrong. I am not going to go into it but the thing is, as he hides from his pursuers living in caves, I root for him! I almost like him and find myself snickering at his horrific behavior!! What is wrong with me?
I think this is a good story. It contains a lot of contrasts, the actual plot is dark and there is evil and violence and desperation, but at the same time, there is humor and a little lightness and some action. If you like Cormac McCarthy you should read this book. It's a weird one but it keeps your interest and stengthens your grasp of Cormac's dark and desperate edge-of-humanity with maybe-a-smirk landscapes.
 too strange for me... April 27, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book was too weird for me, it was just too graphic. I read it only because it has caused a controversy in an area school. The teacher that allowed his student to read this book has now been fired. I know that I don't want my own kids to read this book. Mr. McCarthy has done much better with his other works.
 good book April 6, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
i didn't like it as much as The Road, but i still thought it was pretty good. Sometimes i got a little lost as to who was speaking, narrator vs character, but the "story" was good.
Child of God March 24, 2008
This book is not for the easily offended or a young audience. While reading this novel, I was shocked yet could not put it down. The main character, Lester Ballard, is disturbing but somehow the author makes the reader have empathy for him. VERY SHOCKING and DISTURBING!
Disturbing February 6, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Cormac McCarthy fuses Faulknerian dialog with the violence of Sade in this particularly gruesome and short novel. This novel's critical acclaim is probably nothing more than the combination of McCarthy's considerable technical skills and the shock value of the content. The 'protagonist' engages in violent rape, murder, and necrophilia in this repugnant piece of literary stylism. I could not put it down but I also could not help from thinking that it is ultimately a thin achievement.
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