Cormac McCarthy originally titled his post-apocalyptic novel 'The Grail' before it was published as 'The Road'.

Literary analysis of Cormac McCarthy's draft manuscripts reveals that his novel 'The Road' was initially titled 'The Grail'. This title explicitly frames the post-apocalyptic journey as a mythological quest rather than standard science fiction. McCarthy's realistic narrative style, also seen in the Coen brothers' cinematic adaptation of 'No Country for Old Men', relies on meticulous physical accuracy to ground otherwise unbelievable or extreme scenarios of human desperation.