Everything in This Country Must

"On every page, McCann's prose flows with a lean, austere majesty . . . The result is a shivery, hard-earned, unforgettable beauty."—Dan Cryer, Newsday

"This book is crisp and clean and full of the wisdom of recognizing the mysterious strength of the individual . . . A brief work of fiction by an extraordinary Irish writer that portrays with amazing precision and truth the terrible emotional forces that drive that rage and fear."—Michael Pakenham, The Baltimore Sun

"[McCann's] fiction is equal parts death and beauty, its inescapable realism uplifted by an exquisitely soulful and visual prose."—Gail Caldwell, The Boston Globe

"McCann's stunning achievement is that he never strikes a dissonant note despite the dissonance in his characters' lives."—Denise Gess, The Washington Post Book World

"There is no denying the discipline that has gone into Everything in This Country Must."—Charles Taylor, The New York Times Book Review

"Captures that peculiar nexus of hormones, deprivation, and political imperative in a Northern Irish child coming of age."—Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times Book Review

"[A] stunning new book . . . Told in McCann's lush prose, these stories are both mesmerizing and painful."—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"McCann has the knack of capturing the intensity of these strongly held views in a low-key prose that underscores their vitriol, and in a way that disturbs the reader's sensibilities."—Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Excellent—this is a powerful and moving collection."—Roddy Doyle

"Masterful. These emotionally charged, beautifully controlled tales can only enhance McCann's already considerable reputation."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"These are powerful stories—gritty, memorable, and ambitious. The novella goes straight to the heart, both in terms of its theme and its emotional punch."—Edna O'Brien, author of Wild Decembers

"Beautifully, poetically written . . . The need to read them over and over again can't be denied."—Booklist

"McCann's stories are brooding, meditative, and lyrically controlled to that delicate point where the emotion within them intensifies with each succeeding reading and recognition. The political turmoil of Northern Ireland finds here an answering, subtly respondent voice—wonderfully skilled and deeply felt."—Seamus Deane, author of Reading in the Dark

"Further evidence of McCann's remarkable gifts as a prose artist as well as storyteller . . . In each of these pieces, the miracle is how McCann, with prose so terse and spare, is able to create worlds so emotionally complex and moving."—Library Journal