Description

A savage tale of violence and morality in the American West, Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men follows a Vietnam veteran’s dark path after stumbling upon a drug deal gone wrong.

Adapted for the screen by the Coen Brothers (Fargo, True Grit), winner of four Academy Awards (including Best Picture).

‘A Western thriller with a racy plot and punchy dialogue’ – The Times

1980. Llewelyn Moss is hunting antelope near the Rio Grande when he discovers the aftermath of a drug deal turned deadly. Finding bullet-ridden bodies, several kilos of heroin, and a caseload of cash, he faces a choice – walk away or take the money and run. Choosing the latter, he knows, will change everything.

And so begins a terrifying chain of events, as each player in this brutal game seems determined to answer one question: how does a man decide in what order to abandon his life?

‘It’s hard to think of a contemporary writer more worth reading’ – Independent

Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.

Praise for Cormac McCarthy:

‘McCarthy worked close to some religious impulse, his books were terrifying and absolute’ – Anne Enright, author of The Green Road and The Wren, The Wren

‘His prose takes on an almost biblical quality, hallucinatory in its effect and evangelical in its power’ – Stephen King, author of The Shining and the Dark Tower series

‘In presenting the darker human impulses in his rich prose, [McCarthy] showed readers the necessity of facing up to existence’ – Annie Proulx, author of Brokeback Mountain

Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.

Publisher Review

No Country for Old Men is a severed head and shoulders over anything else written in America this year. * Independent on Sunday * A Western thriller with a racy plot and punchy dialogue, perfect for a lazy Sunday. * The Times * [An] utterly absorbing, chilling tale . . . One of the most sinister characters in modern American fiction. * Herald * A fast, powerful read, steeped with a deep sorrow about the moral degradation of the legendary American West. * Financial Times * It's hard to think of a contemporary writer more worth reading. * Independent * No Country for Old Men is a compelling, harrowing, disturbing, sad, endlessly surprising and resonant novel. -- Robert Edric * Spectator *