Cities of the Plain

In Cities of the Plain, the concluding volume of Cormac McCarthy's acclaimed Border Trilogy, two men grapple with a vanishing way of life amidst a rapidly changing world. John Grady Cole and Billy Parham, whose stories began in All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing, now find themselves facing the tumultuous currents of the 1950s American Southwest. Bound by their shared history and enduring friendship, the two cowboys work on a New Mexico cattle ranch, which is increasingly under threat as military interests encroach from the north.

Set against the majestic and unforgiving landscape of New Mexico, their tale is one of love, loss, and unwavering loyalty. John Grady is irresistibly drawn towards the border mountains of Mexico, where he pursues a love affair that is both intense and perilous. The story unfurls in a world marked by natural beauty and impending upheaval, capturing the essence of a bygone era.

"In a lovely and terrible landscape of natural beauty and impending loss, we find John Grady; a young cowboy of the old school, trusted by men and horses, and a fragile young woman, whose salvation becomes his obsession... McCarthy makes the sweeping plains a miracle," writes the Scotsman.

The novel is both haunting and deeply felt, completing what many consider one of the great literary achievements of the 1990s. The Daily Telegraph praises it as "one of the literary masterworks of the 1990s," and the Guardian hails the trilogy as "a landmark in American literature."

This edition is part of the Picador Collection, celebrating the best in contemporary literature in honour of Picador's 50th Anniversary. Fans of McCarthy can also look forward to his eagerly anticipated new novels, The Passenger and Stella Maris, set to be published by Picador in October 2022.