Child of God by Cormac McCarthy

A harrowing descent into isolation, violence, and the darkest reaches of human nature, *Child of God* is one of Cormac McCarthy’s most inimitably disturbing works, and an early expression of the uncompromising vision that would come to define one of America’s greatest writers. Set in the hill country of East Tennessee, the novel follows Lester Ballard, a dispossessed and solitary man living at the edges of society. After losing his home, Ballard retreats deeper into the wilderness and further from the community that has rejected him, taking refuge first in an abandoned cabin and eventually in a network of mountain caves. As his isolation grows, so does his capacity for violence, and what begins as the story of an outcast becomes something far more brutal. Yet McCarthy refuses to render Ballard as simply monstrous. Described as “a child of God much like yourself perhaps,” he remains recognizably human even as his actions become increasingly horrific, forcing the reader to confront the razor’s edge upon which civilization and savagery meet. First published by Random House in 1973, *Child of God* was McCarthy’s third novel, following *The Orchard Keeper* and *Outer Dark*, and continued his exploration of the Appalachian South that would characterize his early work. Horrifying and darkly beautiful, *Child of God* is a chilling examination of what is left of a human being when society, morality, and every familiar boundary have fallen away. The Numbered Edition of *Child of God* is limited to 250 copies. It measures 6.7 x 9.5 inches and contains 194 pages. The edition is signed by John Banville and Barry Moser and includes a new afterword by John Banville. The text is set in Poliphilus & Blado, with Caslon Antique for display, and is printed letterpress on Mohawk Superfine. It features twelve woodcuts by Barry Moser printed letterpress with the text. The book is bound in quarter goatskin with boards covered in handmade batik paper from India, made from recycled cotton rag; each sheet is coated in wax, crumpled by hand, and dipped in dye, leaving a network of crackled veins with no two sheets being the same. A detail from one of Barry Moser's woodcuts is letterpress-printed on the front board, and the spine is foil-blocked. The volume is housed in a clamshell enclosure covered in Natuurlinnen, a woven cotton cloth. The endsheets are black Hahnemühle Bugra, and the endbands are handmade in leather. A letterpress-printed bookmark is included with all pre-orders. Illustrations © 2025 by Barry Moser. Published editions may differ slightly from mockups and prototype designs.

A harrowing descent into isolation, violence, and the darkest reaches of human nature, *Child of God* is one of Cormac McCarthy’s most inimitably disturbing works, and an early expression of the uncompromising vision that would come to define one of America’s greatest writers. Set in the hill country of East Tennessee, the novel follows Lester Ballard, a dispossessed and solitary man living at the edges of society. After losing his home, Ballard retreats deeper into the wilderness and further from the community that has rejected him, taking refuge first in an abandoned cabin and eventually in a network of mountain caves. As his isolation grows, so does his capacity for violence, and what begins as the story of an outcast becomes something far more brutal. Yet McCarthy refuses to render Ballard as simply monstrous. Described as “a child of God much like yourself perhaps,” he remains recognizably human even as his actions become increasingly horrific, forcing the reader to confront the razor’s edge upon which civilization and savagery meet. First published by Random House in 1973, *Child of God* was McCarthy’s third novel, following *The Orchard Keeper* and *Outer Dark*, and continued his exploration of the Appalachian South that would characterize his early work. Horrifying and darkly beautiful, *Child of God* is a chilling examination of what is left of a human being when society, morality, and every familiar boundary have fallen away. The Lettered Edition is limited to 26 copies, measuring 6.7 x 9.5 inches with 194 pages. It is signed by John Banville and Barry Moser and includes a new afterword by John Banville. The edition features twelve woodcuts by Barry Moser printed letterpress with the text. Each copy is accompanied by a print of one of Moser's woodblocks, pulled on Kitakata paper and presented in a folded paper wrapper, and includes a letterpress printed bookmark. The book is bound by master bookbinder Zigor Anguiano Calzada in Spain, with boards covered in unfinished crust leather, stamped and dyed, featuring a torn-edge white leather onlay on the front board carrying the title. The text is set in Poliphilus & Blado, with Caslon Antique for display, and was designed by Jason Dewinetz. It is printed letterpress by Scott Vile on his Heidelberg Cylinder on handmade Twinrocker Da Vinci paper. The volume is housed in a cloth-covered clamshell enclosure and features handmade leather head and tail bands, with Hahnemühle Ingres endsheets. Illustrations © 2025 by Barry Moser.