Days Without End

"The novel Days Without End follows the life of Thomas McNulty, who flees the Great Famine of Ireland as a boy and winds up a soldier on the Great Plains of the United States fighting in the Indian Wars, and later in the Civil War. McNulty finds companionship and love in one of his fellow soldiers, Handsome John Cole. (That part of the novel was inspired by Sebastian Barry’s son, Toby, who came out to him while Barry was researching the book.) McNulty is a lyrical and companionable narrator for this bloody part of America’s history."

"There's something about the narrator's voice, a combination of utter ingenuousness and deep humane wisdom, that reminds you of Moby-Dick."

"I just finished the Irish novelist Sebastian Barry's "Days Without End" — outstanding."