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´This funny, grumpy, coming-of-age tale still strikes a chord´ The Times

Peter Levi, a shy and sensitive American teenager, moves to Paris to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War, where he is determined to live a life in harmony with his own idealistic views. But the world is changing at breakneck pace, with nuclear war looming abroad and racial tensions simmering at home. Before long, Peter´s na‹ve illusions are shattered, as he finds himself an unwilling participant in an era of extraordinary change.

Birds of America is an unforgettable and deeply moving story of personal and political turmoil; of the strange and surprising nature of growing up; and of the questions we face when we examine who we really are.

´A writer known for her wit, her glamour, and the shocking candour of her fiction´ New Yorker

´An absorbing novel about a young man´s voyage into adulthood, enlivened by Mary McCarthy´s needling wit´ Hilary Mantel, Booker prize-winning author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies

´Fiercely intelligent, insatiably combative, McCarthy´s novels invite controversy´ Penelope Lively, from the introduction

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An absorbing novel about a young man´s voyage into adulthood, enlivened by Mary McCarthy´s needling wit. You have to go away to understand home, you have to lose yourself to find yourself; Mary McCarthy´s insight into her young hero - his awkward growing-up, his efforts to understand his time and place - create an authentic and thoughtful slice of cultural history. Hilary Mantel, Booker prize-winning author of ´Wolf Hall´ and ´Bring Up the Bodies´

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McCarthy, Mary
Mary McCarthy was an American literary critic and author of more than two dozen books. Her debut novel, The Company She Keeps, initiated her ascent to become one of the most celebrated writers of her generation, a reputation bolstered by her controversial 1963 New York Times bestseller The Group, which was banned in Australia for its frank portrayal of female sexuality. McCarthy was married four times, including to the critic Edmund Wilson. She died in 1989.

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