They Rode On: Blood Meridian and the Tragedy of the American West (Casebook Studies in Cormac McCarthy, Volume 2)

The second volume of the Cormac McCarthy Society's casebook series is based on the papers from the the Blood Meridian 25th Anniversary Conference on Cormac McCarthy held in San Marcos, Texas in 2010. In addition to anthologizing classic articles by Rick Wallach, Mark Busby, Chris Dacus, and others, it features new articles by Alex Engbretson, Shane Schimpf, Linda Woodson, Delys and Phillip Snyder, and other prominent McCarthy critics and scholars. The book's introductory section covers the bloody history of the Texas-Mexico border region, scalphunting, the scientist-explorers of the 19th century who prefigured the monstrous Judge Holden, and Samuel Chamberlain-whose memoir, My Confession, yielded the original narrative of the Glanton gang. A section is dedicated to the judge himself. They Rode On also includes new articles about Blood Meridian's philosophical and theological problems, its cast of characters, linguistic issues, political dimensions, and a history of the text based on early drafts of the novel in the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University, San Marcos. These and other intriguing articles will enhance your appreciation of this great and deeply troubling literary work.