Episode 6: McCarthy and Southern Literature with Bryan Giemza

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 in the context of Southern Literature. Today’s guest is Bryan Giemza, who holds a Ph.D. and J.D. and is an Associate Professor of Humanities and Literature in the Honors College at Texas Tech University. In addition to his teaching and research he serves as public scholar for the Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community and the Natural World. Before coming to Texas Tech he was Director of the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Geimza is author or editor of six academic books on American literary and cultural history, ten book chapters, and more than thirty published articles and reviews. His research shows wide-ranging interests in American history and literature, with articles on topics ranging from Cherokee literacy and women's religious orders during the Civil War to chirality in Cormac McCarthy's novels. His books include the literary history Irish Catholic Writers and the Invention of the American South, which received the South Atlantic Modern Language Association's Studies Award, as well as Images of Depression-Era Louisiana: The FSA Photographs of Ben Shahn, Russell Lee, and Marion Post Wolcott (2017). Recently he has worked with the Texas Tech Climate Center and is currently working on a book on STEM and McCarthy's world. His take on Southern Lit and McCarthy avoids the usual rutted traces and dives deep.

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 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 began accepting 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...

The 'Blood Meridian' (or the 'Suttree') of Reading McCarthy

Many readers will agree that Cormac McCarthy has never published a 'bad' work. Reading McCarthy, likewise, has never produced a 'bad' episode. This episode, however, is among the series' most entertaining and informative. Host Scott Yarbrough and guest Bryan Giemza share an accessible, articulate, and thoroughly engaging conversation about southern lit and its associated fields and figures. Their passion for the study of McCarthy's social and literary contexts is palpable and contagious. Even though I'm writing this review a week after the fact, I'm still thinking about this discussion.