The provided text consists of extensive excerpts from Cormac McCarthy’s debut novel, "The Orchard Keeper," a work of literary fiction set in rural Tennessee between the two World Wars. The narrative centers on the interconnected lives of Marion Sylder, a bootlegger and outlaw; the young boy John Wesley Rattner, whose father Sylder unknowingly killed; and Rattner's Uncle Ather, an old man who tries to keep peace. The passages vividly depict the harsh natural environment and the decaying local structures, such as the precarious Green Fly Inn and the poverty-stricken community of Red Branch. Events described include the violent death of a man during a road trip, Sylder's subsequent arrest and interrogation, a disastrous fight and collapse at the Green Fly Inn, and the old man's final exile from his mountain home and admission to a state hospital. The excerpts also contain a summary of McCarthy’s other notable works, including "The Road" and "No Country for Old Men," confirming his established reputation as a prize-winning author.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.