Book · 2022 · nyt:combined-print-and-e-book-fiction=2022-12-25
Stella Maris
Why people recommend it
Stella Maris is a philosophical companion novel by Cormac McCarthy that concludes the narrative arc initiated by its predecessor, featuring deep intellectual dialogues in a psychiatric facility. On The Book Review podcast in July 2024, the book was highlighted in two separate conversations regarding major literary releases. In an episode titled The Critics Picks: A Year in Reading, critic Dwight Garner discussed the book as a sort of coda that plays out the themes of the preceding companion novel. Around the same time, in an episode titled How People First Arrived in the Americas, journalist Alexandra Alter discussed the rollout strategy by the publisher Knopf, noting that the company was releasing the companion novels The Passenger and Stella Maris just one month apart in the fall. These discussions provided listeners with valuable insights into the late author's publishing schedule and the structural relationship between the twin volumes. The podcast segments emphasized how Stella Maris functions both as a standalone philosophical exploration and as a concluding companion piece that rounds out the major themes of Cormac McCarthy's late-career literary output.
Who recommended it
- Dwight Garner Discussed
- Alexandra Alter Discussed
Dwight Garner — 1 mention
“the second one St amiris is a sort of Koda and it kind of plays out”
Alexandra Alter — 1 mention
“so this fall one month apart Koff is going to release his books the passenger and a second companion novel Stella Maris”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- The Passenger
- A Visit from the Goon Squad
- A word child
- Also a Poet
- Ball Four
- Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“so Dwight you wrote the obituary for cormack McCarthy who starting with the orchard keeper way back in 1965 and ending with Stella Maris last year wrote 12 novels”
“in his later novels the final two that came out just last fall the passenger and Stella Maris”
“Dwight you wrote a piece late last year following the publication of the passenger and Stella Maris those two Interlink novels about food in the work of Cormac McCarthy”