In 1969, Cormac received the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Writing. His next novel, Child of God, was published in 1973.

In the taut, chilling novel, Lester Ballard—a violent, dispossessed man falsely accused of rape—haunts the hill country of East Tennessee when he is released from jail. While telling his story, Cormac depicts the most sordid aspects of life with dignity, humor and his characteristic lyrical brilliance.