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Gone
The bestselling author of Let The Great World Spin delivers an emotional tour de force about the search for a missing boy and the mother who is desperate to find him.
Few fiction writers today are as loved and admired as Colum McCann—for his soul-stirring prose, his high-wire narratives, his understanding that in life’s small, everyday moments, there is magic.
Author of the New York Times bestsellers “Let the Great World Spin” and “Transatlantic,” McCann has been called “a giant among us” (Peter Carey), “dazzlingly talented” ( The Oprah Magazine), and “that rare species in contemporary a literary writer who is an exceptional storyteller” (The Independent). He’s received a National Book Award, an Oscar nomination, and a slew of international prizes.
His talents are on full display in his new short story, “Gone,” a deeply affecting literary thriller about a mother and son, alone in a cottage on the west coast of Ireland, and the search that ensues when the boy—whom she adopted years before, deaf and with “already a whole history written in him”—goes missing. He slips away in early morning, down to the cold sea with his new Christmas wetsuit, and as the hours and days drag on, the coast guard, police, dogs, fishermen, farmers, and schoolchildren holding hands search the sea and walk the fields while the television crews and detectives come and go, the police at the cottage seeming to “ghost into one almost as if they could slip into one another’s faces.”
The mother, Rebecca, now under suspicion, is racked with guilt over the decisions that led to her son’s disappearance, and tormented by the judgment of "You bought what? A wetsuit? Why in the world? What sort of mother? How much wine did you drink?" For Rebecca, “every outcome was unwhisperable.”
“Gone” is a charged narrative that propels you forward, heart in your throat, and a moving, intimate look at life’s struggles toward grace and a kind of redemption.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Colum McCann was born in Ireland in 1965. He is the author of two collections of stories and six novels, including the international bestsellers “Transatlantic” and “Let the Great World Spin,” for which he won the National Book Award. He has also been the recipient of the International Impac Dublin award, a Chevalier of l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government, an Oscar nomination, and several other literary awards. His work has been published in more than thirty-five languages. He lives in New York with his wife, Allison, and their three children and teaches in the M.F.A. program at Hunter College.
PRAISE FOR COLUM McCANN
“A damned lot of fun to read.” —Dave Eggers, author of “The Circle” and “A Hologram for the King”
“Here is the uncanny thing McCann finds again and again about the that it is inseparable from the everyday.” —The Boston Globe
“Fiction that gets the heart thumping.” —Frank McCourt, author of “Angela’s Ashes” and “Tis”
“This is McCann’s gift, finding grace in grief and magic in the mundane, and immersing the reader in these thoroughly.” —The San Francisco Chronicle
“McCann’s heart-stoppingly simple descriptions wow.” —Entertainment Weekly
“If God is in the details, then McCann is surely close to heaven.” —St. Petersburg Times
“Colum McCann is a giant among us—fearless, huge-hearted, a poet with every living breath.” —Peter Carey, author of “Oscar and Lucinda” and “The True History of the Kelly Gang”
“There is magic in this McCann.” —The Baltimore Sun
“[McCann] lends a forgiving tenderness that invigorates the timeless notion that we are not really all that different under the skin, each of us longing for love, for beauty, for those connections that quell our loneliness.” —Bookpage
“An arresting voice … at once deep and dazzling.” —Edna O’Brien, author of “Saints and Sinners” and “Country Girl”
Few fiction writers today are as loved and admired as Colum McCann—for his soul-stirring prose, his high-wire narratives, his understanding that in life’s small, everyday moments, there is magic.
Author of the New York Times bestsellers “Let the Great World Spin” and “Transatlantic,” McCann has been called “a giant among us” (Peter Carey), “dazzlingly talented” ( The Oprah Magazine), and “that rare species in contemporary a literary writer who is an exceptional storyteller” (The Independent). He’s received a National Book Award, an Oscar nomination, and a slew of international prizes.
His talents are on full display in his new short story, “Gone,” a deeply affecting literary thriller about a mother and son, alone in a cottage on the west coast of Ireland, and the search that ensues when the boy—whom she adopted years before, deaf and with “already a whole history written in him”—goes missing. He slips away in early morning, down to the cold sea with his new Christmas wetsuit, and as the hours and days drag on, the coast guard, police, dogs, fishermen, farmers, and schoolchildren holding hands search the sea and walk the fields while the television crews and detectives come and go, the police at the cottage seeming to “ghost into one almost as if they could slip into one another’s faces.”
The mother, Rebecca, now under suspicion, is racked with guilt over the decisions that led to her son’s disappearance, and tormented by the judgment of "You bought what? A wetsuit? Why in the world? What sort of mother? How much wine did you drink?" For Rebecca, “every outcome was unwhisperable.”
“Gone” is a charged narrative that propels you forward, heart in your throat, and a moving, intimate look at life’s struggles toward grace and a kind of redemption.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Colum McCann was born in Ireland in 1965. He is the author of two collections of stories and six novels, including the international bestsellers “Transatlantic” and “Let the Great World Spin,” for which he won the National Book Award. He has also been the recipient of the International Impac Dublin award, a Chevalier of l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government, an Oscar nomination, and several other literary awards. His work has been published in more than thirty-five languages. He lives in New York with his wife, Allison, and their three children and teaches in the M.F.A. program at Hunter College.
PRAISE FOR COLUM McCANN
“A damned lot of fun to read.” —Dave Eggers, author of “The Circle” and “A Hologram for the King”
“Here is the uncanny thing McCann finds again and again about the that it is inseparable from the everyday.” —The Boston Globe
“Fiction that gets the heart thumping.” —Frank McCourt, author of “Angela’s Ashes” and “Tis”
“This is McCann’s gift, finding grace in grief and magic in the mundane, and immersing the reader in these thoroughly.” —The San Francisco Chronicle
“McCann’s heart-stoppingly simple descriptions wow.” —Entertainment Weekly
“If God is in the details, then McCann is surely close to heaven.” —St. Petersburg Times
“Colum McCann is a giant among us—fearless, huge-hearted, a poet with every living breath.” —Peter Carey, author of “Oscar and Lucinda” and “The True History of the Kelly Gang”
“There is magic in this McCann.” —The Baltimore Sun
“[McCann] lends a forgiving tenderness that invigorates the timeless notion that we are not really all that different under the skin, each of us longing for love, for beauty, for those connections that quell our loneliness.” —Bookpage
“An arresting voice … at once deep and dazzling.” —Edna O’Brien, author of “Saints and Sinners” and “Country Girl”
40 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 18, 2014
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About the author
Colum McCann
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Colum McCann is the author of three collections of short stories and six novels, including "Apeirogon," published in Spring 2020. His other books include "TransAtlantic," "Let the Great World Spin," "This Side of Brightness,""Dancer" and “Zoli,” all of which were international best-sellers.
His newest book, American Mother, written with Diane Foley, is due to be published in March 2024.
American Mother takes us deep into the story of Diane Foley; whose son Jim, a freelance journalist, was held captive by ISIS before being beheaded in the Syrian desert.
Diane’s voice is channeled into searing reality by Colum, who brings us on a journey of strength, resilience, and radical empathy.
"American Mother is a book that will shake your soul out," says Sting.
Apeirogon (2020) became a best-seller on four continent.
“Let the Great World Spin” won the National Book Award in 2009. His fiction has been published in over 40 languages and has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, GQ, Paris Review and other places. He has written for numerous publications including The Irish Times, Die Zeit, La Republicca, Paris Match, The New York Times, the Guardian and the Independent.
In December 2023 Colum (as co-founder of Narrative 4) was the 2023 Humanitarian Award nominee, awarded by the United Nations delegations at the Ambassador's Ball in New York City.
Colum has won numerous international awards. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as the Irish association of artists, Aosdana. He has also received a Chevalier des Artes et des Lettres from the French government. He is the cofounder of the global non-profit story exchange organisation Narrative 4.
In 2003 Colum was named Esquire magazine's "Writer of the Year." Other awards and honors include a Pushcart Prize, the Rooney Prize, the Irish Independent Hughes and Hughes/Sunday Independent Novel of the Year 2003, and the 2002 Ireland Fund of Monaco Princess Grace Memorial Literary Award. He was recently inducted into the Hennessy Hall of Fame for Irish Literature.
His short film "Everything in this Country Must," directed by Gary McKendry, was nominated for an Academy Award Oscar in 2005.
Colum was born in Dublin in 1965 and began his career as a journalist in The Irish Press. In the early 1980's he took a bicycle across North America and then worked as a wilderness guide in a program for juvenile delinquents in Texas. After a year and a half in Japan, he and his wife Allison moved to New York where they currently live with their three children, Isabella, John Michael and Christian.
Colum teaches in Hunter College in New York, in the Creative Writing program, with fellow novelists Peter Carey and Tea Obreht.
Colum has completed his new novel, "Apeirogon." Crafted out of a universe of fictional and nonfictional material, McCann tells the story of Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan. One is Israeli. One is Palestinian. Both are fathers. Both have lost their daughters to the conflict. When Bassam and Rami learn of each other's stories they recognize the loss that connects them, and they begin to use their grief as a weapon for peace.
In the novel McCann crosses centuries and continents. He stitches together time, art, history, nature and politics in a tale both heartbreaking and hopeful. Musical, cinematic, muscular, delicate and soaring, Apeirogon is a novel for our times.
It is scheduled for release in the U.S in February 2020.
Advance copies will be available here on GoodReads!!!!
Colum McCann is the author of three collections of short stories and six novels, including "Apeirogon," published in Spring 2020. His other books include "TransAtlantic," "Let the Great World Spin," "This Side of Brightness,""Dancer" and “Zoli,” all of which were international best-sellers.
His newest book, American Mother, written with Diane Foley, is due to be published in March 2024.
American Mother takes us deep into the story of Diane Foley; whose son Jim, a freelance journalist, was held captive by ISIS before being beheaded in the Syrian desert.
Diane’s voice is channeled into searing reality by Colum, who brings us on a journey of strength, resilience, and radical empathy.
"American Mother is a book that will shake your soul out," says Sting.
Apeirogon (2020) became a best-seller on four continent.
“Let the Great World Spin” won the National Book Award in 2009. His fiction has been published in over 40 languages and has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, GQ, Paris Review and other places. He has written for numerous publications including The Irish Times, Die Zeit, La Republicca, Paris Match, The New York Times, the Guardian and the Independent.
In December 2023 Colum (as co-founder of Narrative 4) was the 2023 Humanitarian Award nominee, awarded by the United Nations delegations at the Ambassador's Ball in New York City.
Colum has won numerous international awards. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as the Irish association of artists, Aosdana. He has also received a Chevalier des Artes et des Lettres from the French government. He is the cofounder of the global non-profit story exchange organisation Narrative 4.
In 2003 Colum was named Esquire magazine's "Writer of the Year." Other awards and honors include a Pushcart Prize, the Rooney Prize, the Irish Independent Hughes and Hughes/Sunday Independent Novel of the Year 2003, and the 2002 Ireland Fund of Monaco Princess Grace Memorial Literary Award. He was recently inducted into the Hennessy Hall of Fame for Irish Literature.
His short film "Everything in this Country Must," directed by Gary McKendry, was nominated for an Academy Award Oscar in 2005.
Colum was born in Dublin in 1965 and began his career as a journalist in The Irish Press. In the early 1980's he took a bicycle across North America and then worked as a wilderness guide in a program for juvenile delinquents in Texas. After a year and a half in Japan, he and his wife Allison moved to New York where they currently live with their three children, Isabella, John Michael and Christian.
Colum teaches in Hunter College in New York, in the Creative Writing program, with fellow novelists Peter Carey and Tea Obreht.
Colum has completed his new novel, "Apeirogon." Crafted out of a universe of fictional and nonfictional material, McCann tells the story of Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan. One is Israeli. One is Palestinian. Both are fathers. Both have lost their daughters to the conflict. When Bassam and Rami learn of each other's stories they recognize the loss that connects them, and they begin to use their grief as a weapon for peace.
In the novel McCann crosses centuries and continents. He stitches together time, art, history, nature and politics in a tale both heartbreaking and hopeful. Musical, cinematic, muscular, delicate and soaring, Apeirogon is a novel for our times.
It is scheduled for release in the U.S in February 2020.
Advance copies will be available here on GoodReads!!!!
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 14, 2014
3.5 I love everything this author writes, so when I saw this short on Amazon I had to grab it. He writes about all different subjects and his descriptive prose always makes the reader seem like they are right there in the story with the characters. You can see and feel what he writes. This short was no exception, the prose is outstanding, but I can't really say I liked the ending but then again I could not come out with an alternate ending myself, so it is what it is. Happy just to read anything by this author.
March 25, 2014
Those looking for a tense, fast-paced mystery/thriller about a missing child should really look elsewhere. But those who appreciate a lovely and lyrical tale of loss and discovery set on the west coast of Ireland will be well-pleased by this digital short. This is the story of a mother and the deaf adopted son who goes missing for three days. If you have ever raised a child and watched him or her grow into adulthood and experienced the peculiar sense of grief that comes when the child subtly crosses the line from childhood into adolescence, you will understand what this book is all about: it's a metaphor for letting go of our children as they become their own people. In the process, they go places and experience things we never can know. Realizing this truth is something every parent goes through. As McCann says near the end of his tale: "Impossible to be a child forever. A mother, always." This is a touching meditation on the passages most of us make as we travel through life.
June 3, 2014
I don't usually read short stories , but I couldn't resist this one because I love the way McCann writes . I wish he would tell more of this story in a novel .
April 1, 2015
Took only 20 minutes to read. One of those no-distinct-ending short stories that are assigned in english lit class.
September 23, 2022
Also called Sh’khol.
July 12, 2014
This super quick short story is characteristic of McCann's revealing sketches of characters trapped in impossibly devastating circumstances. The focus here is on a divorced mother raising a adopted son whose placement along the spectrum of autistic social disorders. Once her son goes missing one night, McCann reveals through the mother's limited third person narration her memories of choosing to take in and raise such a challenging child. The missing person plot line is wrapped up in the end, but the meaning is really found in the parent-child bond that is developed between these two individuals with no biological connection.
May 28, 2014
Gone...
The book was an "ok" read but I think it could have been better with some added details. It went straight for. searchers g for the boy to finding him too quickly. I think if the process were drawn out a little more it could have been better. I also did not like the ending very well although it does go along with the boy becoming a man, it just did not seem like a suitable ending for a book about a missing child.
The book was an "ok" read but I think it could have been better with some added details. It went straight for. searchers g for the boy to finding him too quickly. I think if the process were drawn out a little more it could have been better. I also did not like the ending very well although it does go along with the boy becoming a man, it just did not seem like a suitable ending for a book about a missing child.
April 22, 2014
Wish I realized just how short this was before purchasing. Read two minutes and it said I was 60 percent done. The angst of the mother was well written but the story just never developed. How could it in such short span. Ending stunk too. I don't get it at all. Was this just to make quick money by dangling talented writer out there. Such a tease.
April 3, 2014
Interesting, very internal story from McCann...hard to imagine parenting such a child and what that would mean to your life.
April 17, 2014
Impressive!
April 20, 2014
I love Colum McCann's writing. This does short story does not dissappoint. I only wish I could have heard more of the story.
April 29, 2014
Was an extremely short story. The first part of the story was good but, the end left me with more questions than answers.
October 5, 2014
Loved the prose. Great short story.
September 14, 2014
I didn't get much out of this short story. It was okay.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews