Outer Dark
In an unnamed Appalachian region around the turn of the 20th century, Culla Holme abandons the newborn child his sister Rinthy bore him in the woods, telling her the baby died at birth. Rinthy discovers the lie, leaves home, and begins walking the country in search of the child. Culla wanders separately, taking jobs and running from each one. A nameless trio of bearded murderers moves through the same backwoods, killing settlers and travelers as it goes. McCarthy's second novel established the biblical prose register and mythic violence that he later perfected in Blood Meridian, with a trio of killers that reads as a first sketch of the Glanton gang.
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What you might want to know about Outer Dark
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
An Appalachian brother and sister wander apart looking for the abandoned child of their union as a trio of nameless killers cuts through the same country.
Outer Dark (1968) was Cormac McCarthy's second novel, after The Orchard Keeper. It is part of his early Southern Gothic period before his Western turn with Blood Meridian.
Yes. Outer Dark uses McCarthy's signature dense prose and minimal punctuation. The Tennessee mountain setting is bleak and the violence is unrelenting. Most readers either commit fully or set it aside.
Outer Dark was written by Cormac McCarthy, published in 1968 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Outer Dark is 242 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Outer Dark takes most readers 4 to 5 hours to finish.
Outer Dark is a standalone novel by Cormac McCarthy, not part of a series.
Outer Dark is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.