All the beautiful horses

The novel All the Beautiful Horses is the first part of the so-called. "The Border Trilogy" and can be safely described as one of the highlights of McCarthy's work; author of both the prestigious 1993 National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. It was similarly successful with readers: It topped the bestseller list for months and is still one of the author's best-selling books today. McCarthy here places typical features of his writing, linguistic inventiveness, attention to detail, or exquisitely exposed narrative, in a genre that has a rich tradition in American literature -- the novel of initiation. The story takes place in 1949 and is not complicated: Sixteen-year-old John Grady Cole and his friend Lacy Rawlins run away on horseback from their home in Texas and head for Mexico. Along the way, they are joined by a slightly younger boy and the three of them set off across the desert, towards adulthood, each in their own way. The main character John Grady Cole tries out several roles at once on his way to adulthood: friend, "father" and lover.