Episode 58: Staying off the Tracks of THE SUNSET LIMITED with Dianne Luce

The 58th episode brings back the excellent Dr. Dianne Luce to discuss with us McCarthy’s 2006 play The Sunset Limited (or is it a novel in dramatic form?). Produced first by the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago in May of 2006, it later went on to open in New York. Dianne Luce saw it in Chicago during that opening run and we’ve both seen the Tommy Lee Jones directed film version which aired on HBO in 2011. The play shows two men, a cynical, atheist white professor and an evangelical Black ex-con, who debate faith, whether life has meaning or consequence, and whether suicide is a viable option. Returning guest Dianne Luce has appeared previously on Reading McCarthy with discussions of The Orchard Keeper, Suttree, and McCarthy’s legacy, among others. She is a founding member and past president of the Cormac McCarthy society. Together with Edwin Arnold she edited two seminal collections of essays on McCarthy’s work, Perspectives on Cormac McCarthy and A Cormac McCarthy Companion: The Border Trilogy. Additionally she is the author of Reading The World. Cormac McCarthy’s Tennessee Period , University of South Carolina Press, 2009, and Embracing Vocation: Embracing Vocation: Cormac McCarthy's Writing Life, 1959-1974 , USC Press 2023. She is currently working on a second volume of Cormac McCarthy's Writing Life, covering 1974-1985. Thanks to Thomas Frye, who composed, performed, and produced the music for READING MCCARTHY. Film trailer for The Sunset Limited, directed by Tommy Lee Jones, 2011. The views of the host and his guests do not necessarily reflect the views of their home institutions or the Cormac McCarthy Society, although in our hearts we hope they’ll follow along. Download and

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Episode 58: Staying off the Tracks of THE SUNSET LIMITED with Dianne Luce is an episode from Reading McCarthy by Scott Yarbrough and Guest Hosts.

This episode is 77:45 long.

This episode was published on Jun 5, 2025.

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