Let The Great World Spin
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3.7 • 3 Ratings
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
'A wow of a novel - rich, humane, brilliantly written anda as deep as it is wide' The Times
'An astonishing balancing act by a great writer prepared to take risks. A book to treasure' Daily Mail
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New York, August 1974: a man is walking in the sky.
Between the newly built Twin Towers, the man twirls through the air. Far below, the lives of complete strangers spin towards each other: Corrigan, a radical Irish monk working in the Bronx; Claire, a delicate Upper East Side housewife reeling from the death of her son; Lara, a drug-addled young artist; Gloria, solid and proud despite decades of hardship; Tillie, a hooker who used to dream of a better life; and Jazzlyn, her beautiful daughter raised on promises that reach beyond the skyline of New York.
In the shadow of one reckless and beautiful act, these disparate lives will collide, and be transformed for ever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
McCann's sweeping new novel hinges on Philippe Petit's illicit 1974 high-wire walk between the twin towers. It is the aftermath, in which Petit appears in the courtroom of Judge Solomon Soderberg, that sets events into motion. Solomon, anxious to get to Petit, quickly dispenses with a petty larceny involving mother/daughter hookers Tillie and Jazzlyn Henderson. Jazzlyn is let go, but is killed on the way home in a traffic accident. Also killed is John Corrigan, a priest who was giving her a ride. The other driver, an artist named Blaine, drives away, and the next day his wife, Lara, feeling guilty, tries to check on the victims, leading her to meet John's brother, with whom she'll form an enduring bond. Meanwhile, Solomon's wife, Claire, meets with a group of mothers who have lost sons in Vietnam. One of them, Gloria, lives in the same building where John lived, which is how Claire, taking Gloria home, witnesses a small salvation. McCann's dogged, DeLillo-like ambition to show American magic and dread sometimes comes unfocused John Corrigan in particular never seems real but he succeeds in giving us a high-wire performance of style and heart.
