He won a MacArthur "genius" Grant, the Pulitzer Prize this year, and the Coen Bros. now have a movie out based on his _No Country for Old Men_, possibly his weakest/most accessible book, yet the reviews of it are overwhelmingly positive. Regardless of the movie, McCarthy's a great writer, and from the south.
To Mr. Carl Remick: I've no doubt blues et. al. is "a reaction to Southern culture," but The Ramones and the NYC punk scene was "a reaction" to their milieu, too. Most art is. The Ramones, for example, were reacting to either boredom, the Nixon era, the pomposity of 70s rock, etc., etc., depending on who you read. Is that supposed to disqualify it or something?
Austin's own awesome punk scene was "a reaction to" Southern culture, too, but nonetheless great, and, well, southern, anyway. The Dicks were led by an overweight crossdressing gay guy (the awesome Gary Floyd) -- they did a reunion show in 2006 in Austin, singing "Dicks Hate the Police":
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kpLlKlNwRHg
-B.
Joseph wrote:
"What, exactly, has the cultural dung heap of Long Island produced to compare with William Faulkner, or even Tennessee Williams?"