Accompanied by photographs, this novel tells the story of a man's journey from the West of Ireland to the fields/boxing-booths/building sites of England. Now at the century's end, he finds himself alone, struggling to make sense of a life of dislocation and loss.

'Think about a tune ... the unsayable, the invisible, the longing in music. Here is a book of tunes without musical notes ... It wrings the heart' John Berger 'A masterpiece' Robert Macfarlane 'O'Grady does not just respond to Pyke's stark, beautiful photographs: he gives voice to thousands' Louise Kennedy An old man lies alone and sleepless in London. Before dawn he is taken by an image from his childhood in the West of Ireland, and begins to remember a migrant's life. Haunted by the faces and the land he left behind, he calls forth the bars and boxing booths of England, the potato fields and building sites, the music he played and the woman he loved. Timothy O'Grady's tender, vivid prose and Steve Pyke's starkly beautiful photographs combine to make a unique work of fiction, an act of remembering suffused with loss, defiance and an unforgettable loveliness. An Irish life with echoes of the lives of unregarded migrant workers everywhere. Since it was first published in 1997, I Could Read the Sky has achieved the status of a classic.

"Madeline Judith thinks that God is a really good artist. She wants to help and asks if she can paint the sky for Him. When He says no, she learns that God has special jobs for each one of us"--back cover.

Rich, colorful and bursting with excitement, this remarkable story turns James Alexander Thom's power and passion for American history to the epic story of Tecumseh's life and give us a heart-thumping novel of one man's magnificent destiny—to unite his people in the struggle to save their land and their way of life from the relentless press of the white settlers. “Oh, what a man this will be, with such a sign as that!” In 1768, when Turtle Mother gave birth to a strong baby boy in the heart of the Shawnee nation, a green-yellow shooting star streaked across the heavens. Hard Striker saw the unsoma, the birth sign, and named his son Tecumseh, meaning Panther in the Sky . . . Praise for Panther in the Sky “[James Alexander] Thom shows how, in honest, capable hands, fictionalized biography can add verisimilitude to the life and times of this extraordinary America. . . . The dialogue has the ring of reality about it. . . . Thom is able to get into the thoughts and emotions of his characters.”—Dee Brown, Los Angeles Times “The story of a bruised and threatened culture . . . Thom's rendering of the Shawnee world is authoritative. Tecumseh is a wonderful character. . . . Panther in the Sky is bloody, brave and honorable.”—The Washington Post Book World “Through Thom's masterful storytelling and his passion for Shawnee lore, customs and especially mysticism, you continually have the feeling that maybe, these simple, proud individuals can win back their land and have life go on as ‘Our Grandmother,’ that great spiritual force, intended.”—Chicago Tribune “A work of such sweep and compassion that it blurs the demarcation between novel and history . . . Totally admirable.”—The Cincinnati Enquirer “A brillinant job . . . meticulously researched . . . It is a detailed story of the almost mythical life of [Tecumseh] and that of the Shawnee of his time.”—Kansas City Star “A spellbinding novel about the life of Tecumseh . . . The book is almost epic in its scope. . . . Thom has carefully researched his facts. He has the care of a historian to go with the skills of the seasoned novelist.”—The Indianapolis Star “Riveting . . . Historical fiction at its finest.”—Booklist

Every time he went out for his daily walk, Derry had to pass the corner where old Jim sat on his orange box. And every time he lingered there in the hope of a story. For Jim was a sailor who had grown too old for the sea, but who was never tired of his adventures on the good ship Rocking Horse under brave Captain Potts.

Volume contains: 219 NY 443 (Constantino v. Watson Contracting Co.) 219 NY 420 (D'Utassy v. Barrett) 219 NY 658 (Epstein v. Werbelovsky) 220 NY 34 (Gaffney v. N.Y. Consolidated R.R. Co.)