Let the Great World Spin

March 9, 2009
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.

The swirling lives represented here by the best narrators in the Recorded Books ensemble portray a complicated and changing New York of August 1974, as Philippe Petit stretches a cable between the Twin Towers in Manhattan, still under construction, and shocks the world by walking from one building to the other (both nearly a quarter of a mile in height). McCann's 2009 National Book Award winner uses this real event to tell the stories of the people down below and, most remarkably, the fictionalized man up above. The narrators, led by Richard Poe, take on the challenge of these multiple points of view with professionalism and aplomb. Listeners are swept into this chaotic world and engrossed by the quirky characters and the way they come together. For its scope, sense of nostalgia, and emotional impact--this is not to be missed. R.O. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine