Sewanee, Tennessee: The University of the South, Spring 1965. First edition. A Near Fine copy. Publisher's blue paper wrappers. Spine sunned and a bit dampstained. Edges of wrappers crinkled.

"The Dark Waters," an excerpt from his first published novel The Orchard Keeper (1965), is one of four short stories Cormac McCarthy published during his early career. The first was "Wake for Susan" (The Phoenix, 1959); "A Drowning Incident" (The Phoenix, 1960); and "Bounty" (Yale Review, 1965). Though not McCarthy's first publication, "The Dark Waters" is an important early entry in his bibliography and a stepping stone towards his first novel, which was published later in the same year and earned him the William Faulkner Award.

Tracing Biblical themes from the book of Genesis, McCarthy’s first novel illustrates the politics of four men in an idyllic hamlet in rural Tennessee and its ultimate demise. The bliss of their home, in communion with nature, is shaken by a greedy antagonist that throws them from their Eden and peels away their innocence and ignorance. Upon its release, The Orchard Keeper won the William Faulkner Foundation notable first novel award in 1966 and established a solid foundation for McCarthy’s early career. Still, McCarthy would not achieve commercial success as writer for another thirty years – it was the publication of the National Book Award-winning All the Pretty Horses (1992) that brought him his breakthrough – and his early works, including The Orchard Keeper, are notably scarce in comparison to his later publications. Near Fine (Item #8157)