Let the Great World Spin
From the publisher: "National Book Award Winner. Colum McCann's beloved novel inspired by Philippe Petit's daring high-wire stunt. In the dawning light of a late-summer morning, the people of lower Manhattan stand hushed, staring up in disbelief at the Twin Towers. It is August 1974, and a mysterious tightrope walker is running, dancing, leaping between the towers, suspended a quarter mile above the ground. McCann's powerful allegory comes alive in the unforgettable voices of the city's people, unexpectedly drawn together by hope, beauty, and the 'artistic crime of the century.'"
More info →This Side of Brightness: A Novel
From the publisher: "At the turn of the century, Nathan Walker comes to New York City to take the most dangerous job in the country. A sandhog, he burrows beneath the East River, digging the tunnel that will carry trains from Brooklyn to Manhattan. In the bowels of the riverbed, the sandhogs--black, white, Irish, Italian--dig together, the darkness erasing all differences. Above ground, though, the men keep their distance until a spectacular accident welds a bond between Walker and his fellow sandhogs that will both bless and curse three generations."
More info →TransAtlantic: A Novel
From the publisher: "Three iconic crossings are connected by a series of remarkable women whose personal stories are caught up in the swells of history. Beginning with Irish housemaid Lily Duggan, who crosses paths with Frederick Douglass, the novel follows her daughter and granddaughter, Emily and Lottie, and culminates in the present-day story of Hannah Carson, in whom all the hopes and failures of previous generations live on. From the loughs of Ireland to the flatlands of Missouri and the windswept coast of Newfoundland, their journeys mirror the progress and shape of history."
More info →Apeirogon
An apeirogon is a polygon with an infinite number of sides, an apt metaphor for this non-linear tale of the real life friendship between Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian, and Rami Elhanan, an Israeli. They form a bond through their shared grief and empathy after their daughters are killed in separate incidents. More than that, they want their grief to lead toward peace and lasting change. A timely heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful read.
More info →Dancer
From the publisher: "A Russian peasant who became an international legend, a Cold War exile who inspired millions, an artist whose name stood for genius, sex, and excess-the magnificence of Rudolf Nureyev's life and work are known, but now Colum McCann, in his most daring novel yet, reinvents this erotically charged figure through the light he cast on those who knew him. Taking his inspiration from the biographical facts, McCann tells the story through a chorus of voices, spanning four decades and many worlds, from the horrors of Stalingrad to the wild abandon of New York in the eighties, peopled by a large cast of characters, obscure and famous: doormen and shoemakers, Margot Fonteyn and John Lennon. And at the heart of the spectacle stands the artist himself, willful, lustful, and driven by a never-to-be-met need for perfection."
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