spin....

I've been holding my breath.

Like, literally, holding my breath while reading the last 10 pages of "Fear of Love," a chapter in Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin.

The man's a beautiful writer; it's easy to see why some argue his tangential spin on 9/11 is the best kind of post-Sept. 11 lit out there.

I'm just about halfway through the novel, selected by T for book club. And I just can't say enough nice things to capture the book's beauty. Here he has created characters I want to touch. I want to reach through the pages and hug or shake or pinch....

Honestly, I would add McCann to my list of crushes, if that list hadn't gotten so unwieldy lately.

But here's T's take on McCann, if not directly the book (I'm hoping he won't mind my stealing a line from his recent e-mail):

His books are full of harrowing, breathtaking prose, able to conjure up astonishing images at a whim, create entire histories within a few sentences, and wrench your gut before you even feel a twist.