Kerrigan in Copenhagen

Thomas E. Kennedy's Kerrigan in Copenhagen is an erudite, clever and fun novel. Here is a 60-something coming of age story of an expat poet who is re-entering life after his wife suddenly left him with their young daughter.  I don't enjoy 20-something c-of-a stories, they are too annoying, and the well reviewed Harvard Square is a recent example. However, Kennedy tees up a fun conceit: the likable Kerrigan, who enjoys his lager, has been hired to write a book about the 100 best bars in Copenhagen. He and his Danish "Associate" wander through Copenhagen and he offers hundreds of observations about poets, philosophers, painters, sculptors, & jazz musicians who have lived there. Along the way Kerrigan begins to allow himself fall in love with his Associate, and, of course, this does not take a direct route. The book goes sideways as well, for a bit, but finds its way back to a rewarding ending. Kerrigan is good company as he walks the streets of Copenhagen and ponders artists of all kinds and his own heart.