Harold Bloom called it "the greatest single novel published by an American writer since Faulkner." Set on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, it is a relentless, biblical meditation on human violence. The Judge is among literature's most terrifying figures. McCarthy published it in 1985 to little fanfare; its reputation has only grown.

The case for it, the case against, and the rest of the canon open with Pro.