Episode 5: Reading Outer Dark with Nell Sullivan

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. 

This episode is a consideration of McCarthy’s second novel, Outer Dark.  Our guest is Nell Sullivan.  Dr. Sullivan grew up in Kentucky and earned a BA in English from Vanderbilt University and earned her PhD in English from Rice University.  She is currently Professor of English at University of Houston-Downtown, where she teaches courses in American literature and the literature of the South.  A former editor of the Cormac McCarthy Journal, she has published extensively on gender and class representation in McCarthy’s novels, as well as essays on Katherine Dunn, William Faulkner, and Nella Larsen, among others.  Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and in such journals as Genre, Critique, The Southern Quarterly, Mississippi Quarterly, and African American Review.

Music for READING MCCARTHY is composed, performed, and produced by Thomas Frye.  Interludes this week include “The World to Come,” “Toadvine,” “Running with Wolves,” “Much Like Yourself,” a refrain of “The World to Come,” and “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. 

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Starting in spring of 2023, the podcast will accept 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...