Vanity Fair under fire for ‘glorifying’ Cormac McCarthy’s sexual relationship with underage ‘muse’
Vanity Fair is under fire for “glorifying” and “romanticizing” author Cormac McCarthy’s sexual relationship with his underage “muse.”
The American novelist’s secret minor muse was revealed in a piece yesterday, more than a year after his death from prostate cancer.
But readers have taken issue with writer Vincenzo Barney’s choice of language.
The article centers on Augusta Britt, now 64, who talks about her relationship with McCarthy and their first meeting at a hotel pool in Tucson, Arizona, when she was a troubled foster child, 16, and McCarthy was 42.
“Imagine you’re sitting by a pool in a cheap motel when a beautiful 16-year-old runaway approaches you with a stolen gun in one hand and your debut novel in the other,” Barney says. wrote.
Britt explained at the time that she had no intention of starting a relationship with him, but described how their relationship developed and how she believes he “saved her life.”
The magazine describes their first sexual encounter – when she was 17.
While Barney acknowledged the age difference, he called it “potentially illegal.”
Vanity Fair’s story about Cormac McCarthy’s love affair with a woman that began when she was 16 years old has been panned by readers
The article, written by Vincenzo Barney (pictured), centers on Augusta Britt, now 64, who talks about her relationship with McCarthy and their first meeting at a hotel pool in Tucson, Arizona, when she was a troubled foster child.
Author Cormac McCarthy died last June
‘He was 43, she was 17. The image is startling and possibly illegal.
“At the very least, it raises questions about inappropriate power dynamics and the specter of premeditated grooming.
“But not against Britt, who in her young life was the victim of unspeakable violence by many men, then or now,” he writes.
Readers were outraged by his characterization of a “groomer.”
‘Truly astonished, this was published.
“The writer certainly drools at the thought of an exploited, abused 16-year-old girl. He celebrates Cormac McCarthy’s pedophilia (he was 42!) as ‘the craziest love story’. What’s going on here?’ said one reader.
De Telegraaf also gave a scathing review.
Perhaps more disturbing than the garbled prose, Barney appears to treat McCarthy’s pedophile interest in the vulnerable teenager as a great love story.
“It’s a hardly unbelievable attitude to adopt in 2024, seven years after the #MeToo scandal first broke and 70 years after the publication of Lolita,” the critic said.
Barney acknowledges in the article that McCarthy was at one point the subject of an FBI investigation after eloping with Britt.
Vanity Fair and the article’s author, Vincenzo Barney, were contacted for comment but did not respond at time of publication.
Britt describes how the relationship came about.
“It wasn’t very safe in the foster homes,” Britt, now 64, explained.
‘They weren’t allowed to have locks on the bedroom or bathroom doors, so the men just followed me into the rooms.
“But at the Desert Inn I was able to use the pool showers to shower.”
It was there, she said, that she first saw McCarthy.
“I thought he looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place him,” Britt said.
She spent months with Barney in Arizona and recalled her relationship with the literary legend.
Vanity Fair has not yet responded to the criticism of the piece