Colum McCann Quote
The world spinning. AUTHOR’S NOTE PHILIPPE PETIT WALKED A TIGHTROPE WIRE between the World Trade Center towers on August 7, 1974. I have used his walk in this novel, but all the other events and characters in this work are fictional. I have taken liberties with Petit’s walk, while trying to remain true to the texture of the moment and its surroundings. Readers interested in Petit’s walk should go to his book To Reach the Clouds (Faber and Faber, 2002) for an intimate account. The photograph used on page 237 is by Vic DeLuca, Rex Images, August 7, 1974, copyright Rex USA. To both of these artists I’m deeply indebted. The title of this book comes from the Alfred, Lord Tennyson poem Locksley Hall. That in turn was heavily influenced by the Mu’allaqat, or the Suspended Poems, seven long Arabic poems written in the sixth century. Tennyson’s poem mentions pilots of the purple twilight dropping down with costly bales, and the Mu’allaqat asks, Is there any hope that this desolation can bring me solace? Literature can remind us that not all life is already written down: there are still so many stories to be told.
The world spinning. AUTHOR’S NOTE PHILIPPE PETIT WALKED A TIGHTROPE WIRE between the World Trade Center towers on August 7, 1974. I have used his walk in this novel, but all the other events and characters in this work are fictional. I have taken liberties with Petit’s walk, while trying to remain true to the texture of the moment and its surroundings. Readers interested in Petit’s walk should go to his book To Reach the Clouds (Faber and Faber, 2002) for an intimate account. The photograph used on page 237 is by Vic DeLuca, Rex Images, August 7, 1974, copyright Rex USA. To both of these artists I’m deeply indebted. The title of this book comes from the Alfred, Lord Tennyson poem Locksley Hall. That in turn was heavily influenced by the Mu’allaqat, or the Suspended Poems, seven long Arabic poems written in the sixth century. Tennyson’s poem mentions pilots of the purple twilight dropping down with costly bales, and the Mu’allaqat asks, Is there any hope that this desolation can bring me solace? Literature can remind us that not all life is already written down: there are still so many stories to be told.
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About Colum McCann
McCann is the author of seven novels, including Apeirogon (2020), TransAtlantic (2013) and the National Book Award-winning Let the Great World Spin (2009). He has also written three collections of short stories, including Thirteen Ways of Looking, released in October 2015. American Mother was released in March 2024 and tells the story of Diane Foley, whose son, James Foley, was captured and killed by ISIS while serving as a freelance combat reporter in Syria. His latest novel, Twist, was released in March 2025.