It’s been a long time since I dropped a book in the bath, but dropped Everything in this Country Must, I did. Colum McCann’s collection of two short stories and one novellas is a good introduction to the recently anointed National Book Award winner. His writing sometimes feels a tad mannered and self-conscious, but the stories are affecting; in particular the title story about the tragic consequences of a stubborn grievance. (The dip in the bath was accidental, by the way, not a response to the writing…)