Songdogs

A mesmerizing evocation of the gulf between memory and imagination, love and loss, past and present from the National Book Award–winning author.

With unreliable memories and scraps of photographs as his only clues, Conor Lyons follows in the tracks of his father, a rootless photographer, as he moved from war-torn Spain, to the barren plains of Mexico, where he met and married Conor’s mother, to the American West, and finally back to Ireland, where the marriage and the story reach their heartrending climax. The narratives of Conor’s quest and his parents’ lives twine and untwine to astonishing effect.

“A lyrical jewel . . . A graceful novel about the unbreachable gap between memory and reality, Songdogs promises a fine literary future for Colum McCann.” —Joy Press, The Baltimore Sun

“McCann has unusual control over his material . . . His take on the New World is fresh and often amusing, but what we remember most is the poignancy.” —Michael Harris, Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Powerful . . . wistful and gracefully shadowed . . . The author has a keen eye and ear; his language is full of sparkling poetry and images.” —Scott Veale, The New York Times Book Review

“Positively vibrates . . . consistently engaging . . . remarkably beautiful.” —Peggy O’Brien, The Boston Sunday Globe