Book · 2015 · nyt:combined-print-and-e-book-fiction=2022-11-13
The Passenger
Why people recommend it
The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy is an intricate, companion-style novel following a salvage diver in New Orleans who navigates grief, mathematics, and shadowy government conspiracies alongside his late sister. The book was frequently discussed following its publication alongside its sister novel, Stella Maris. On The Book Review, Gilbert Cruz spoke with Dwight Garner about Garner's essay on food and cuisine within McCarthy's fiction. Garner noted that McCarthy's protagonist, Billy Western, is a passionate aficionado of local food culture who frequently eats at iconic regional locations, such as the authentic Italian roadhouse Moscas just outside New Orleans. In earlier segments, Alexandra Alter discussed the surprise announcement that McCarthy was releasing two interconnected novels simultaneously, noting that keen followers of the author's career had long awaited the publication of this specific project. Critics highlighted the book's rich atmospheric setting, philosophical weight, and McCarthy's distinct literary voice, marking its arrival as a major publishing event.
Who recommended it
- Dwight Garner Discussed
- Gilbert Cruz Discussed
- Alexandra Alter Discussed
Dwight Garner — 3 mentions
“but I really thought about it because the in in the novel that came out last fall the passenger it set large in New Orleans and cormax hero Billy Western is a lover of the cuisine and he has a lot of he doesn't really pay very often”
“on the passenger he has a character eat at this great restaurant outside of New Orleans moscas which is a great old Italian Roadhouse”
“the first one is is the great one the comic one it's called the passenger”
Gilbert Cruz — 1 mention
“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”
Alexandra Alter — 1 mention
“it's called the passenger so you know when they announced that he had a novel coming out I think people who had been following closely knew that he had this book called the passenger the big surprise was that it's not one but two novels that he's written and they are interconnected”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“in his later novels the final two that came out just last fall the passenger and Stella Maris”