Ballard, a poor farmer, loses his home and land, and with it any connection he had with the people around him. Without resources, without work, without money, he wanders through the forests. He commits simple thefts as well as crimes, not hesitating to violate even universal taboos. Set against the wild landscape of Tennessee, the reader follows him on this downward spiral, while the narrative is interrupted by oral testimonies from local residents trying to find a reason for his actions, while also revealing their own harshness.

“Like the authors he admires – Melville, Dostoevsky, Faulkner – McCarthy has created a great and profound work, a masterpiece” (The Washington Post), which dares to map the deep darkness of the human soul.