Carry Me Down
MJ Hyland
HarperCollins
MJ Hyland’s shortlisted Booker Prize novel avoids being shelved in the overpopulated “poor, poor Irish family” category, thanks to its narrator. Set in 1970s rural Ireland, 11-year-old John Egan has a special problem: He almost tips six-feet-tall, which upsets his mother terribly and results in many concerned trips to the doctor and the headmaster’s office. John, who exhibits unnamed autistic characteristics, also believes he has a special power—the ability to detect when someone’s lying. As his parents’ marriage is destroyed and his obsession with the Guinness Book of World Records grows, John’s mental state crumbles into a JD Salinger-esque madness.
Sue Carter Flinn
type: book
category: best of 2006
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.
