American novelist Cormac McCarthy's 12 books are widely considered some of the best literature of the modern canon, and he is often ranked among the greatest American writers ever. Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr. was born in Providence, Rhode Island on July 20, 1933, and died on June 13, 2023. He began his career soon after college, writing short stories for his student magazine (via Britannica). He had his first novel published in 1965, The Orchard Keeper, which won a 1966 William Faulkner Foundation Award, but his true acclaim did not arrive until he wrote All the Pretty Horses in 1992.

Along with his 12 novels, McCarthy wrote three short stories; an essay; five screenplays, including one for Ridley Scott's movie, The Counselor; and two plays. McCarthy's style is notable for being sparsely punctuated. There are no quotation marks and fewer commas. Speakers are rarely indicated also, but his clear control of voice always makes it obvious who's talking. His novels are filled with violence and could be considered nihilistic, though they often have deeply moral undercurrents. Each book deserves space on a shelf, and everyone who has read McCarthy seems to have a favorite.

12 Cities Of The Plain (1998)

A Smaller, But No Less Fierce, Entry In The Border Trilogy

The final book in the "Border Trilogy" and Cormac McCarthy's eighth novel, Cities of the Plain, is a reference to the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah, giving a hint about the story inside. In Cities of the Plain, John Grady Cole of All the Pretty Horses and Billy Parham of The Crossing work together on a cattle ranch near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Cities of the Plain requires reading the first two books in the "Border Trilogy" to truly enjoy. The shortened prose is a step away from his earlier books but would become the standard for his modern works.

11 Outer Dark (1968)

A Darkly Nihilistic Look At Sin

This darky, disturbing story has been frequently called on by fans to be adapted into a horror movie. McCarthy's second novel, Outer Dark, is set somewhere in Appalachia around the turn of the 20th century. In this isolated, and timeless world, a brother and sister bear a child, only for the brother to leave the infant out in the woods, where it's found by someone. Outer Dark sees a change in priorities for McCarthy, who abandons chronology and humor, present in The Orchard Keeper, instead focusing on the bleakness of the human condition and the power of sin.

10 The Orchard Keeper (1965)

A Sign That McCarthy Would Be An Icon

McCarthy's first novel, The Orchard Keeper, was published in 1965 and is set between World War I and World War II in an isolated community in Tennessee. The novel follows the lives of three men; Uncle Arthur Ownby, a loner woodsman; John Wesley Rattner, a young boy; and Marion Sylder, a bootlegger, whose lives become entangled after a murder. As his first novel, McCarthy is still searching for the tone he would come to be known for, but already, his beautiful, almost painterly descriptions make the occasionally aimless story feel incredibly powerful.

9 Child Of God (1973)

Moral Degradation In Picturesque Sevier County, Tennessee

Cormac McCarthy's third novel, Child of God, follows Lester Ballard, an abandoned, hopeless man who turns to violence and serial murder as he loses his grip on his sanity. The story goes back and forth between Lester's first-person view and anecdotes told by the townsfolk of Lester's shocking early life. Child of God is a disquieting read, filled with trauma and horrific acts of violence and degradation. Matter-of-fact descriptions of murder, and beautiful and vivid imagery combine for an unnerving, but completely engaging juxtaposition.

8 The enger (2022)

A Quiet And Moving Of One Young Man's Regrets

Cormac McCarthy's 11th book, The enger, was released six weeks before Stella Maris, which together make up books one and two of the "enger Series". The enger follows Bobby and Alicia Western, whose father is responsible for developing America's atomic bomb during World War II. McCarthy published The enger and its companion in his late-80s and his willingness to explore different stories and try different styles that late is a testament to his confidence and skill. The enger may not read exactly like older McCarthy books, but it still has the heartbeat of the author.

7 Stella Maris (2022)

Mathematics, Physics, And Philosophy Combine For McCarthy's Farewell

Stella Maris is Cormac McCarthy's 12th and final novel, and the last book in the "enger Series". Like The enger, Stella Maris follows Bobby and Alicia Western, whose father helped develop the atom bomb. This novel focuses on Alicia Western, a math prodigy beset by delusions. It's hard to separate Stella Maris and The enger, but Stella Maris is a more philosophical and complicated story with sojourns into mathematics and physics. It feels like Cormac McCarthy is speaking directly to the reader, trying to elucidate the entirety of his career as he approached the end of it.

6 No Country For Old Men (2005)

A Thrilling, Violent Tale Of A Drug Deal Gone Wrong

Though many will recognize the Coen brothers' adaptation of No Country for Old Men over Cormac McCarthy's ninth novel, the book is just as thrilling as the movie. The novel follows Llewelyn Moss, a Texas man who stumbles across a drug deal gone wrong and puts himself in the crosshairs of the force of nature that is Anton Chigurh. It's in No Country for Old Men that McCarthy starts contending with issues of morality, which may put off readers who favored his nihilistic themes in earlier books. It's a disquieting, timeless story about greed and the unknowability of evil.

5 Suttree (1979)

McCarthy's Adventure Story Filled With Humor And Bleakness

Suttree is Cormac McCarthy's fourth novel, and here he moves away from the grim bleakness of his earlier novels into something just a hint more humorous and sprawling. Cornelius Suttree comes from a life of privilege but decides he wants to cast off his past, including his wife and son, to become a poor fisherman on the Tennessee River. Suttree is dense, and its prose can be off-putting to those unfamiliar with McCarthy. However, it's also one of his most well-rounded stories, bringing in aspects of human goodness along with the evil that are part of his books.

4 The Crossing (1994)

Two Brothers Grow Up And Apart In The Wilds Of New Mexico

Cormac McCarthy's seventh novel is also the second in the "Border Trilogy", The Crossing. In The Crossing, Billy Parham and his brother Boyd go on a series of adventures near their homestead in 20th-century New Mexico. They experience the power of nature in all its forms and are each changed, possibly for the worse, by their years growing up. Bleak, and yet still humorous, The Crossing is sort of a slice-of-life novel, though with McCarthy's sense of doom and fate. The mystical aspects of the novel can be daunting but are also incredibly rewarding to get through.

3 All The Pretty Horses (1992)

A Quiet And Beautifully Written Tale Set In Mexico

The first book in the "Border Trilogy" and McCarthy's sixth book overall, All the Pretty Horses follows John Grady Cole, who travels to Mexico with his friend Lacey Rawlins to find work. There, the duo meet Jimmy Blevins and become a trio, though work proves hard and dangerous to come by. One of McCarthy's lighter novels in of scope, it's still an incredibly detailed of life as a cowboy. The story is sad, moving, and hopeless at times, but the three boys at the center are so well crafted, that it's hard to put the book down.