Reading McCarthy Episode 3: Reading The Orchard Keeper, with Dianne Luce
READING MCCARTHY is a podcast devoted to the consideration and discussion of the works of one of our greatest American writers, Cormac McCarthy. Each episode calls upon different well-known Cormackian readers and scholars to help us explore different works and various essential aspects of McCarthy’s writing. Scott Yarbrough is your host in these deep dives into the world of McCarthy.
Episode 3 is a thorough consideration of McCarthy’s first novel, The Orchard Keeper. Our guest from Episode 2, Dianne Luce, returns to help guide us through the book. Dianne Luce is a founding member and past president of the Cormac McCarthy Society and has worked in the field of McCarthy studies since it first emerged. She co-edited with Edwin T. Arnold two collections of articles on McCarthy and is the author of Reading the World: Cormac McCarthy’s Tennessee Period (2009). Currently she is writing a two-volume study of McCarthy’s writing life at Random House. Her most recent article is “Creativity, Madness, and ‘the light that dances deep in Pontchartrain’: Glimpses of ‘The Passenger’ from Cormac McCarthy’s 1980 Correspondence” in the Cormac McCarthy Journal. She holds faculty emeritus status from Midlands Technical College in Columbia, SC.
Music for READING MCCARTHY is composed, performed, and produced by Thomas Frye. Interludes this week include “The World to Come,” “Running with Wolves,” “Toadvine,” “Much Like Yourself,” “Toadvine,” and “Blues for Blevins,” and then repeated, “The World to Come” and “Much Like Yourself,” ending with “Blues for Blevins.”
The opinions of the host and his guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions of their institutions or the Cormac McCarthy Society.
Reach out to us at readingmccarthy@gmail.com. Download the podcast on Apple iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Find us on Facebook and Twitter.
Starting in spring of 2023, the podcast began accepting minor sponsorship offers to offset the costs of the podcast. This may cause a mild disconnect in earlier podcasts where the host asks for patrons in lieu of sponsorships. But if we compare it to a very large and naked bald man in the middle of the desert who leads you to an extinct volcano to create gunpowder, it seems pretty minor...