The World Trade Center - then and now

Colum McCann's new book walks tightrope between 1974 and 9/11

By

CAHIR O'DOHERTY,

Irish Voice Staff Writer

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August 7, 1974, New York, New York, USA: Philippe Petit, a young frenchman, gave the most spectacular high-wire performance of all time by transversing the span between Towers I and II of the WTC eight times in one hour. Mr. Petit and his team had illegally rigged their cable under the cover of night and he was arrested by the Port Authorities and charged with "attempt(ing) to cause public inconvenience," and trespassing.. Credit: Jean-Louis Blondeau / Polaris

Photo by Polaris

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McCann’s father in law said he would never read a 9/11 novel or see a film about it. It brought back too much for him. He still, McCann says, wakes up having seen the faces of those kids going up the stairs as he went down.

“When he read Let the Great World Spin he realized right away that it was about 9/11, but he also understood that it was a different story, it was about 1974, too,” McCann says.

“It’s about joy and accomplishment and beauty. It was a way for me to try and tell the 9/11 story and yet get out of it on a different note.”

It might surprise some to learn that this most philosophical of writers thoroughly loves the public readings and book launches that most writers bemoan.

“I should say I don’t, because it doesn’t sound very serious, but I love meeting people and I love getting out and about. I sit on my ass for long periods of time. It’s a solitary thing. I’m a pretty social being,” he says.

McCann’s new book was rapturously received by Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club, which can be a fast track to bestseller status, but McCann’s not overawed.

“If you believe the good stuff you must also believe the bad stuff. It’s a natural, logical corollary. Therefore you just say that’s wonderful that happened but I must move on. My own literary heroes manage to keep their life and art in check.”

Fellow writer Dave Eggers recently observed, “Leave it to an Irishman to write one of the greatest-ever novels about New York.”

As for "Let the Great World Turn" and its abundant metaphors, McCann’s hopes are as modest as his skills are wide.

“I want people to walk inside it. If they choose to see it about 1974 that’s cool. If they choose to see it as an 9/11 allegory that’s even cooler,” he says.

“I hope it breaks their hearts in a certain way. It was the easiest book that I’ve written in a while, but it knocked the living s*** out of me.”

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