Let the Great World Spin can be considered a 9/11 novel. Although it is set in 1974, it starts with the tightrope walker defying death as he crosses between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. 

The novel’s final chapter is set post-9/11, in 2006 when a now-grown Jaslyn, returns to New York City. When she opens a window, she encounters ash in the air. The ash is a subtle, but unmistakable, reference to the ash that covered lower Manhattan after the World Trade Center buildings collapsed on 9/11.

In his creative response to the tragedy of 9/11, McCann has written a sweeping novel about loss of loved ones and the process of grief. The Irish brothers have lost their mother; Ciaran loses his brother; Tillie loses her daughter; the girls lose their mother Jazzlyn and their grandmother Tillie; Adelita loses her lover in the car crash; Adelita has previously lost a husband in Guatemala; the five women in Chapter 2 have lost sons in the Vietnam War. All are grief stricken. 

McCann writes about how each character does or doesn’t cope Tillie commits suicide. Adelita cherishes her memories. Ciaran finds love with Lara, who was in the car that caused the wreck.