REVIEWED BY ANDREW ABRAHAMS
FICTION
McGrath's haunting seventh novel features emotionally damaged New Yorkers who epitomize the term "walking wounded." Charlie Weir is a psychiatrist who couldn't save Danny, a Vietnam vet (and Charlie's ex-wife Agnes's brother), from suicide. Agnes blames Charlie—who in truth could use a shrink himself, as he tries to assuage his loneliness by sleeping with Agnes (or strangers). McGrath trains a keen eye on his characters' pain, making it palpable. "This is what trauma is," says Charlie. "The event is always happening now, in the present, for the first time."
