As the Great World Spins

As the Great World Spins by Colum McCann
A tale of Manhattan in the 70’s, of a remarkable man who walked on a wire strung between the top of the two trade center towers, and of some of the various and sundry people who watched him from below. An anguished Irish monk, a black hooker and her prostitute daughter, a Park Avenue matron mourning her son who died in Vietnam, a twenty-something artist, and a Guatemalan nurse, interact and come together in unpredictable ways. The characters are engaging and real; and the story, written beautifully, won the National Book Award.