These must be heady times for author Cormac McCarthy. His recent book, “The Road,” an excellent story of a nameless father and son making their way across an apocalyptic America, became a bestseller helped even more by being named a selection in Oprah’s Book Club; “The Road” also earned the Pulitzer Prize. Now, his 2005 book, “No Country for Old Men,” has been adapted by the Coen brothers into a movie, due out soon, with McCarthy being included in a recent Time magazine interview with the Coens, and no less than Pulitzer/Oscar winning “Lonesome Dove” author Larry McMurtry tapped to write a Newsweek article about “No Country for Old Men” — on both McCarthy’s book and the Coens’ movie. Like “The Road,” “No Country For Old Men” is a marvel of a book: brutal, surprising, revealing, and relevant. While “The Road” took a deep, dark look at America as literature dressed as science fiction (Psst, don’t tell Oprah or the Pulitzer folks, but “The Road” is science fiction), “No Country” takes a deep, dark look at America through the prism of the gritty crime noir. A few decades ago, a young hunter discovers the massacre of a drug deal gone bad along with a couple million dollars left at the scene of the crime. The hunter is also a Vietnam vet. He’s seen a lot of bad business and figures, for $2 million, he’s got the grit to handle some more. He is pursued by a sheriff who wants him for questioning, a sheriff who has seen his share of action in World War II and along the rough border of the Texas low country. He is also pursued by a brutal killer who wants the money back and wants to see the young man dead, a killer who may prove the old rule that someone has to be baddest man in the world. While McCarthy creates suspense with these pursuits, he really creates a startling expose of a modern America. His sheriff shares observations that sometimes heroes aren’t all that they seem, that a society is crumbling toward collapse when simple courtesies, such as yes sir, no ma’am, and good manners are lost. If you’re a reader who discovered McCarthy through the deserved buzz for “The Road,” prepare for more buzz for the movie marketing for “No Country for Old Men.” Seek the book, too, it is hard country well worth the visit.