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Fishing the Sloe-Black River
by
Colum McCann (Goodreads Author)
The short fiction of Colum McCann documents a dizzying cast of characters in exile, loss, love, and displacement. There is the worn boxing champion who steals clothes from a New Orleans laundromat, the rumored survivor of Hiroshima who emigrates to the tranquil coast of Western Ireland, the Irishwoman who journeys through America in search of silence and solitude. But what...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
February 1st 2004
by Picador
(first published January 1st 1984)
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Rating: 3.75* of five
"Fishing the Sloe-Black River" by Colum McCann collects twelve stories written by an Irish-by-Irish-American talent whose work garnered praise from no less a short story luminary than Edna O'Brien. Justly so, may I add.
These are stories that go down easy, slipping into the eyes with no great effort and causing the brain no hiccups. Then, an hour later, why are they repeating like uncooked garlic? Because, dear readers of them, you've been *snook...more
"Fishing the Sloe-Black River" by Colum McCann collects twelve stories written by an Irish-by-Irish-American talent whose work garnered praise from no less a short story luminary than Edna O'Brien. Justly so, may I add.
These are stories that go down easy, slipping into the eyes with no great effort and causing the brain no hiccups. Then, an hour later, why are they repeating like uncooked garlic? Because, dear readers of them, you've been *snook...more
quite fucking awesome.
AS HELL!
seriously, everyone should read this. Only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is because he attempts to use an American voice which really doesn't work in a couple of the stories. But even in those stories, the actual content is awesome. And I hear his later stuff hits the mark much more consistently, which the first two stories in the collection I just started (Everything in this Country Must) seem to bear out...
Anyway. Amazing short st...more
AS HELL!
seriously, everyone should read this. Only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is because he attempts to use an American voice which really doesn't work in a couple of the stories. But even in those stories, the actual content is awesome. And I hear his later stuff hits the mark much more consistently, which the first two stories in the collection I just started (Everything in this Country Must) seem to bear out...
Anyway. Amazing short st...more
These stories are stunning for how simple they are, how beautiful they are, and how surprisingly resonant they are. Colum McCann does not pull punches, but he allows each subject humanity.
Getting/giving a book that wasn’t asked for by an author you/they don’t know can be pretty tricky, to say the least. A great aunt I love and admire gave me this one Christmas and I had zero interest to crack it open. Eventually I did and I couldn’t stop kicking myself to waiting so long to dig into such a powerful collection of stories. Each story has a unique style, writing voice and McCann can be funny and devastating with equal aplomb in some truly original premises. I was influenced by ...more
"Sisters" was excellent, as were "Breakfast For Enrique" and "Cathal's Lake."
Yay for Irish and Irish-American people and angst.
Yay for Irish and Irish-American people and angst.
I read this before Let the Great World Spin. It's an early work but his talent and lyrical prose are already there.
A writer of great power. His words dance and burn.
Just finished this collection of story stories and as always, enjoyed his way of telling a story.
great collection of short stories - very poetic.
Such beautiful sad stories.
Short stories, well written, most with interesting twists.
Great right before bed, I love short stories for pre bed time reading. And these are good they remind me of what Bono once said about not knowing he was Irish until he came to the U.S.
Some of these short stories are near-perfect ("Sisters", "A Basket Full of Wallpaper"); others are merely very, very good. Read this.
Aus der Wühlkiste gefischt (hach, dieser Wortwitz! Fantastisch!)....hat mir gut gefallen.
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There are some very strong stories here.
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Colum McCann is the author of two collections of short stories and four novels, including "This Side of Brightness,""Dancer" and “Zoli,” all of which were international best-sellers. His newest novel “Let the Great World Spin” will come out in 2009. His fiction has been published in 26 languages and has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, GQ, Paris Review and othe...more
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