The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I'd been meaning to read this for a while so doing an Oprah pick this month was perfect timing for me. "The Road" is a spare, poetic look at a post-apocalyptic America. The story follows a man and his son at they work their way through a ruined landscape on their way toward warmer climates in the south. Along the way they encounter adversity ranging from unbearable cold, to fever, to marauding bands of looters and cannibals. McCarthy's view of "the end" is raw and unflinching. There's not a lot of happiness here, but there is lots of hope. I enjoyed this, but I can see that it might not be for everyone. Fans of apocalyptic sci-fi with a more literate bent will doubtlessly enjoy it. I expect fans of McCarthy's spartan and sometimes violent prose will also be rewarded. I give it two thumbs up.