Episode 11: Checking out CHILD OF GOD with Bill Hardwig

Episode 11 of READING MCCARTHY is a deep consideration  of perhaps McCarthy’s most troubling novel, CHILD OF GOD.  Our guest today is Dr. Bill Hardwig, who was with us before for a discussion of the southern gothic.  

Bill Hardwig is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Tennessee. His book Upon Provincialism: Southern Literature and National Periodical Culture, 1870-1900  was published by the University of Virginia Press in 2013.  He has edited critical editions of In the Tennessee Mountains by Mary Murfree and a forthcoming edition of Evelyn Scott’s Background in Tennessee and is co-editor with Susanna Ashton of Approaches to Teaching the Works of Charles W. Chesnutt in the MLA teaching series.   He has written and published various essays on McCarthy and is currently working on a book-length study of McCarthy’s fiction tentatively titled How Cormac Works: McCarthy, Language, and Style.  He is also creator of the website Literary Knox (www.literaryknox.com), which presents the rich literary history of the city in which he lives and works, Knoxville, Tennessee.

The music for READING MCCARTHY is composed, performed, and produced by Thomas Frye.  Songs for this podcast include “The World to Come” (intro), “Blues for Blevins” (Outro), “Toadvine” (at 9:20), “Running with Wolves” (22:17), and “Much Like Yourself” (the first half at 39:53, the second half at 51:27).  

Please reach out to readingmccarthy@gmail.com. 

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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...