Songdogs: A Novel
Jun 2013 · Macmillan + ORM
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226
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About this ebook
A mesmerizing evocation of the gulf between memory and imagination, love and loss, past and present from the National Book Award–winning author.
With unreliable memories and scraps of photographs as his only clues, Conor Lyons follows in the tracks of his father, a rootless photographer, as he moved from war-torn Spain, to the barren plains of Mexico, where he met and married Conor's mother, to the American West, and finally back to Ireland, where the marriage and the story reach their heartrending climax. The narratives of Conor's quest and his parents' lives twine and untwine to astonishing effect.
"A lyrical jewel . . . A graceful novel about the unbreachable gap between memory and reality, Songdogs promises a fine literary future for Colum McCann." —Joy Press, The Baltimore Sun
"McCann has unusual control over his material . . . His take on the New World is fresh and often amusing, but what we remember most is the poignancy." —Michael Harris, Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Powerful . . . wistful and gracefully shadowed . . . The author has a keen eye and ear; his language is full of sparkling poetry and images." —Scott Veale, The New York Times Book Review
"Positively vibrates . . . consistently engaging . . . remarkably beautiful." —Peggy O'Brien, The Boston Sunday Globe
With unreliable memories and scraps of photographs as his only clues, Conor Lyons follows in the tracks of his father, a rootless photographer, as he moved from war-torn Spain, to the barren plains of Mexico, where he met and married Conor's mother, to the American West, and finally back to Ireland, where the marriage and the story reach their heartrending climax. The narratives of Conor's quest and his parents' lives twine and untwine to astonishing effect.
"A lyrical jewel . . . A graceful novel about the unbreachable gap between memory and reality, Songdogs promises a fine literary future for Colum McCann." —Joy Press, The Baltimore Sun
"McCann has unusual control over his material . . . His take on the New World is fresh and often amusing, but what we remember most is the poignancy." —Michael Harris, Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Powerful . . . wistful and gracefully shadowed . . . The author has a keen eye and ear; his language is full of sparkling poetry and images." —Scott Veale, The New York Times Book Review
"Positively vibrates . . . consistently engaging . . . remarkably beautiful." —Peggy O'Brien, The Boston Sunday Globe
A mesmerizing evocation of the gulf between memory and imagination, love and loss, past and present from the National Book Award–winning author.
With unreliable memories and scraps of photographs as his only clues, Conor Lyons follows in the tracks of his father, a rootless photographer, as he m...
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Ratings and reviews
2 reviews
Barbara Smith
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July 16, 2026
Good prose which seemed poetic as wèll.Sĥifiting back and forth from child to adult by the narrator gave alternative views of the action. Though the prose was beautiful, it made the story drag a bit.
About the author
Colum McCann is the author of books including This Side of Brightness, Zoli, Songdogs and Let the Great World Spin. He has received the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, a Pushcart Prize, and was named the first winner of the Grace Kelly Memorial Foundation Award and the Princess Grace Memorial Literary Award. He lives in New York City.
Colum McCann is the author of books including This Side of Brightness, Zoli, Songdogs and Let the Great World Spin. He has received the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, a Pushcart Prize, and was named the first winner of the Grace Kelly Memorial Foundation Award and the Princess Grace M...
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