Cormac McCarthy and Thomas McGuane Write Stories Set in the American West

"Before they reached the edge of the stream the sun was upon them. There was no bank as such, just the end of the wild roses and an uplifted ridge of thorn trees where magpies squawked at the intrusion. But they could hear the stream, which emanated not far away from a series of blue spring holes at a water temperature that stayed constant, winter and summer. Frank loved to arrive at a stream he knew as well as this one. You could strike it at any point and know where you were, like opening a favorite book at a random page."

"I wish I knew. I think maybe it was that my parents were readers. My father read a lot of adventurous, natural history books. And I think I associated writing with a sort of an adventurous life. That went away eventually. But I know for a boy that was a great attraction.  And I come from an Irish family. My parents and my grandparents are all Irish and my great grandparents are all Irish immigrants. And that's sort of a linguistic tradition, especially comical linguistic tradition, but it's a very verbal household culture. And all of those things kind of turned me toward writing."

VOICE ONE:             

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