The Varied Inspirations Behind Cormac McCarthy's Dark American Narratives.
Celebrated American fiction writer Cormac McCarthy died at the age of 89. While McCarthy was praised for his writing style, his work was criticized for its pessimistic and reactionary outlook, which presented violence and atavism as central to the human condition. McCarthy's novels were permeated with misanthropy and a hostility to human progress, representing a step back from the great American writers of the 20th century. His work gave expression to the outlook of an affluent and complacent social layer in the stagnant cultural desert of the 1980s and '90s.