Description
Book SynopsisThe debut novel from National Book Award winner and Booker nominee Colum McCann 'Colum McCann conjures a hugely inventive debut' Observer ‘McCann writes equally well about Ireland, America and Mexico, and he links past and present in a finely woven narrative: Songdogs is a vivid, beautifully measured book’ Sunday Times __________________ Colum McCann's first novel goes back to the years before the Spanish Civil War, following the adventures of a peripatetic Irish photographer from the war-strewn shores of Europe to the exotic plains of Mexico. The story is told in the words of the photographer's only son, a wanderer himself, who uses his father's unreliable memories and the fading remnants of his art to piece together his family history and explain the mystery surrounding his mother - a Mexican beauty brought back by his father to Ireland.
Trade ReviewColum McCann conjures a hugely inventive debut * Observer *
McCann writes intense, gripping prose full of sharp and telling details. He can draw a complete psychological portrait from the most minor situations …
Songdogs is an exciting book, because it vibrates with the energy of a new writer finding his voice * Times Literary Supplement *
A true work of art * Sunday Tribune *
Potent, sometimes astonishing, fuelled by a unique descriptive vision – the simplicity and power of the final two pages of
Songdogs form one of the most technically and lyrically accomplished conclusions to a novel, debut or otherwise, I have ever read * Sunday Independent *
Songdogs is an event in Irish writing * Irish Independent *
An arresting new voice from out of Ireland, at once deep and dazzling -- Edna O’Brien
Powerful ... wistful and gracefully shadowed ... The author has a keen eye and ear; his language is full of sparkling poetry and images * New York Times Book Review *
Positively vibrates ... consistently engaging ... remarkably beautiful * Sunday Globe *
McCann has unusual control over his material ... McCann’s take on the New World is fresh and often amusing, but what we remember most is the poignancy * Los Angeles Times Book Review *
