Oprah's take on The Road was that it was a wonderful story of father/son love. McCarthy dedicated the book to his young son, and said that he would not have written it if he had not become a father (again) late in life. Oprah didn't deal with the post-apocalyptic idea very much in the interview.

The interview was taped in New Mexico, so McCarthy wasn't exposed to a studio audience. He seemed like a nice guy, dedicated to his writing. Didn't seem to feral in person, despite his writing.

I'm saving my pennies for Harry Potter next month. Oh, and I'll be keeping an eye out for the next Nora Roberts paperback trilogy--she usually puts one out in the beginning of the summer, doesn't she?

He seemed like a nice guy, dedicated to his writing.

A writer on another board was offended by McCarthy's apparent disinterest in book promotion. I really don't see it that way: do you blame Pynchon for eschewing his fans or Joyce for failing to tour behind Finnegans Wake? I can't see where an author like McCarthy should have to meet the media standards of celebrity authorhood.

I can't see where an author like McCarthy should have to meet the media standards of celebrity authorhood.

If his publisher doesn't care (or if he doesn't care that his publisher cares) and he is willing to live with the consequences of not promoting his books then it's not really anybody's business what he does.

That's pretty much my take. I'm sure his publisher has hired a publicist to deal with the media, so I don't get why Oprah (apparently, I say, because this was described to me) expected him to be all thrilled about her choice of The Road for her book club.

I don't get why Oprah (apparently, I say, because this was described to me) expected him to be all thrilled about her choice of The Road for her book club.

He should be thrilled if he wants to sell a ton more books then he does normally. It is not an unreasonable expectation.

eta I think he is entitled to feel however he wants about being picked.

But he was being nice right? He wasn't being all asshatty about it? Like that one guy - who's name I cannot remember.

ETA: Jonathan Franzen - he's the guy.

if he wants to sell a ton more books then he does normally

I think his position was that he really doesn't care whether people read his books or not. But my impression was that he was pretty nice about it.

Okay -- over at Readerville the feeling was similar to your's - his body language indicated that he didn't want to be there, but he was gracious about it and Oprah didn't press him. (I can't believe I forgot it was on.)

A sweet story of father-son love? Uh, yeah, that's not exactly what I got out of The Road. Like, the kid was the only thing keeping the father from going completely feral. And the baby on the barbecue. There was a hell of a lot more going on in that novel than that the guy loved his kid. Although he did.