Colum McCann: The Aesthetics of Redemption

This book takes into account all of Colum McCann's literary fiction to date and considers the ways in which McCann navigates and negotiates between Ireland and the international, and between the past and the contemporary. Unlike many other Irish writers, McCann's fiction is not limited to the 'Irish experience,' but neither is it slavishly global. He transcends the limitations of nationality by exploring the interactions of many different nationalities and cultures. In 2011, McCann won the prestigious 2011 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for his novel Let the Great World Spin. Colum McCann's Irish heritage is a valuable resource in his engagement with the disenfranchised in Irish-American, African-American, and Eastern European histories during the 20th Century. The book argues that McCann's writing re-imagines the possibilities of contemporary Irish fiction. Now available in paperback, it places Irish history, Irish writing, and Irish cultural life into an artistic and ethical dialogue with other marginal cultures.