"Let the Great World Spin" by Colum McCannHere's an excerpt from the Amazon review:
Colum McCann has worked some exquisite magic with Let the Great World Spin, conjuring a novel of electromagnetic force that defies gravity. It's August of 1974, a summer "hot and serious and full of death and betrayal," and Watergate and the Vietnam War make the world feel precarious. A stunned hush pauses the cacophonous universe of New York City as a man on a cable walks (repeatedly) between World Trade Center towers. This extraordinary, real-life feat by French funambulist Philippe Petit becomes the touchstone for stories that briefly submerge you in ten varied and intense lives--a street priest, heroin-addicted hookers, mothers mourning sons lost in war, young artists, a Park Avenue judge. All their lives are ordinary and unforgettable, overlapping at the edges, occasionally converging. And when they coalesce in the final pages, the moment hums with such grace that its memory might tighten your throat weeks later.
7 comments:
Oh good. I was hoping you'd pick a novel that "defies gravity."
Hey, may I join you two on this? When's the "due date" to finish the novel? If I've missed the chance to stay involved, I certainly understand.
Sure, feel free! I don't think Erin has gotten too far in the book yet, so you have time to catch up. I noticed that it came out in paperback the day AFTER I bought the hardcover — damn! — and there are plenty of copies at Borders.
Yeah, you have time. I'm still plugging along on it. Holiday stuff tripped me up.
Hey gals, what do you think about starting discussion on Monday? Does that work?
Anytime is fine with me. Whenever you guys are ready.
I will be mostly ready. (:
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