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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
Vietnam war grief; some urban violence; nothing graphic
Language
Some
Moderate adult language in multiple voices
Sexual Content
Some
Adult sexual relationships; prostitution as part of one character's story
Substance Use
Some
Drug use in the New York social landscape of the 1970s
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The accumulated grief of Vietnam and the struggle to find meaning; elegiac and beautiful
What this book is about
Structured around Philippe Petit's tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in 1974, Colum McCann's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel weaves together the lives of a dozen New Yorkers whose day intersects with the walk. A profound, interconnected portrait of a city and its people—Vietnam-era grief, urban poverty, art, and grace.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Prostitution as part of one character's arc
Vietnam grief throughout
Reader Verification
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