 First edition cover | |
| Author | Cormac McCarthy |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Gothic, philosophical, horror |
| Publisher | Random House |
Publication date | 1973 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 197 (paperback) |
Child of God (1973) is the third novel by American author Cormac McCarthy. It depicts the life of a violent outcast and serial killer in 1960s Appalachian Tennessee.
Though the novel received critical praise, it was not a financial success. Like its predecessor Outer Dark (1968), Child of God established McCarthy's interest in using extreme isolation, perversity, and violence to represent human experience. McCarthy ignores literary conventions – for example, he does not use quotation marks – and switches between several styles of writing such as matter-of-fact descriptions, extremely detailed prose, vivid and picturesque pastoral imagery, and colloquial first-person narration (with the speaker remaining unidentified).