Let the great world spin : a novel

March 2011 Books Plus Discussion

The seasons are turning again, and it's almost time for our 2011 One Book One Bloomington selection--Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin. Set in 1974, this National Book Award winner chronicles the day Philippe Petit tightroped across the space between the two World Trade Towers. In masterful prose, McCann chronicles how various strangers reacted to this event. It's a book about the interrelationships between the residents of a great city, and how one man's quest for adventure brings hope, fear, and wonder to the people standing below. Jonathan Mahler of the New York Times called it "one of the most electric, profound novels I have read in years."
Read more »

Posted by Sarah B. on Feb 24, 2011

One Book One Bloomington 2011

Last night, the 2011 One Book, One Bloomington Community Read title was announced on WFHB's Interchange radio program.

This year, the community voted for Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann.

Frank McCourt had this to say about this National Book Award winner, "trust me, this is the sort of book that you will take off your shelf over and over again as the years go along. It’s a story of the early 1970s, but it’s also the story of our present times. And it is, in many ways, a story of a moment of lasting redemption even in the face of all the evidence....I didn’t want to stop turning the pages. I’m really not sure what McCann will do after this, but this is a great New York book, not just for New Yorkers but for anyone who walks any sort of tightrope at all. And yes, it doesn’t surprise me that it takes an Irishman to capture the heart of the city." This novel captures the spirit of America in a time of transition, promise, and soon-to-be-ended innocence.
Read more »

Posted by Sarah B. on Jan 18, 2011