By Rich Fisher
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kwgs/local-kwgs-851806.mp3
Tulsa, Oklahoma – On our show today, we speak with Colum McCann, who has been described as "New York's most visible up-and-coming Irish writer" by The New York Times, and whose previous works of fiction include "Dancer," "Zoli," "Songdogs," and "Everything in This Country Must." He joins our host Rich Fisher to discuss his new novel, just out from Random House: "Let the Great World Spin." This work has been summarized thus by Kirkus Reviews: "The famous 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers is a central motif in this [novel]. . . . Told by a succession of narrators representing diverse social strata, the novel recalls Tom Wolfe's 'The Bonfire of the Vanities' (1987), except that where 'Bonfire' was deeply cynical about Reagan-era New York, McCann's take on the grittier, 1970s city is deadly earnest. On the day that 'the tightrope walker' (never named, but obviously modeled on Philippe Petit) strolls between the Twin Towers, other New Yorkers are performing quieter acts of courage. . . . Peripheral characters command occasional chapters as well, and this series of linked stories . . . [is] written with verve, empathy, and stylistic mastery."