Kerrigan in Copenhagen

Kerrigan is writing a guidebook to the city of Copenhagen. Specifically, a guide to the city’s drinking establishments – of which there are over 1,500. Thus, it is a project potentially without end, and one with a certain amount of drunken numbness built into it. And that’s the point: for Kerrigan, an American expat fleeing a terrible betrayal, has plenty he wants to forget. The only problem with his proposed project is his research associate, a voluptuous, green-eyed beauty who makes him tremble with forgotten desire.Kerrigan in Copenhagen is both a love story and a Joycean romp through a magical city.

The essay, the guidebook, the love story, the comforting exchange of facts in a bewildering world of emotion – all are to be found in Thomas E. Kennedy’s Kerrigan in Copenhagen ... A spiralling exploration of alcohol, history, literature, art and jazz – and Kerrigan’s wounded psyche ... Undeniably smart, not least because it records the formation of a not-so-smart book. Coarse language plays off lyrical images and often stunning prose that twirls with the improvisations of the jazz musicians Kerrigan admires. It’s a swirl of dichotomies ... The quest for precision – perhaps an end to improvisation – drives the novel’s literally breathless second half ... Take the rough words of an educated man for what they’re worth: perhaps one more miracle tipping the scales that weigh the eternal question of love, Falling Sideways is the finest novel I have read in many years. Thomas Kennedy is a true discovery, an author of rare intelligence and moral vision. Not least, the book is immensely compelling and beautifully written, As he slots together his narratives with masterly elegance, an intimate picture of local life is set before us … Kennedy’s finely calibrated observations make his cast eminently believable, In its wisdom and empathy, in its understanding of the supreme importance of love, in its portrait of a strong man and its knowledge of the human soul in all its suffering, this is indeed a profound and exceptional work, The combination of subtle, beautiful prose and searingly painful realities make In the Company of Angels a story that lingers in the intellect as pervasively as in the heart. An astonishing, wise novel of our times

Thomas E. Kennedy's books include novels, story and essay collections, literary criticism, translations, and anthologies and his writing has been awarded several prizes, including the National Magazine Award in 2008. He teaches in the MFA program at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Born and raised in New York, Kennedy currently lives in Copenhagen with his two children.@ThomasEKennedy www.copenhagenquartet.comwww.thomasekennedy.com