The Crossing is a coming-of-age western set parallel to the events of All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy. It follows sixteen-year-old Billy Parham and his younger brother Boyd as they capture an elusive wolf and return it to its home in Mexico. On their return, they find themselves and their world irrevocably changed. The Crossing is the second volume in the Border Trilogy, preceded by All the Pretty Horses and followed by Cities of the Plain. It has received critical acclaim, with praise for McCarthy's writing style and his ability to present the darker human impulses in his rich prose.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 448 pages
Publication date: 04 August 2022
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

The Crossing

Set along the US-Mexcio border of the 1940s, Cormac McCarthy's legendary Border Trilogy continues with The Crossing, a coming-of-age western set parallel to the events of All the Pretty Horses.

McCarthy speaks to us in the thrilling, apocalyptic tones of an Old Testament prophet – Sunday Telegraph

Sixteen-year-old Billy Parham and his younger brother Boyd are fascinated by an elusive wolf that has been marauding his family's property. Billy captures the animal but, rather than kill it, sets out impulsively for the mountains of Mexico to return it to from where it came. On his return, he will find himself – and his world – irrevocably changed. His innocence lost at a cruel price, the desolate beauty of the border will beckon once again...

The Crossing is like a river in full spate: beautiful and dangerous – The Times

‘Nominally Westerns, these books are too entropic and philosophical to fit within the limits of the genre. – Rachel Kushner, author of The Mars Room

The Crossing is the second volume in the Border Trilogy. It is preceded by All the Pretty Horses and followed by Cities of the Plain.

Praise for Cormac McCarthy:

‘McCarthy worked close to some religious impulse, his books were terrifying and absolute – Anne Enright, author of The Green Road and The Wren, The Wren

His prose takes on an almost biblical quality, hallucinatory in its effect and evangelical in its power – Stephen King, author of The Shining and the Dark Tower series

[I]n presenting the darker human impulses in his rich prose, [McCarthy] showed readers the necessity of facing up to existence – Annie Proulx, author of Brokeback Mountain

Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.

Weight: 318g
Dimension: 130 x 196 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781035003747