Most Popular Books by William KENNEDY

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ironweed explores an era of American innocene and corruption in the first novel in his Albany cycle. “The best novel about a criminal legend I''ve ever read.”—Hunter S. Thompson True to both life and legend, Legs brilliantly evokes the flamboyant career of gangster Jack “Legs” Diamond. Through the equivocal eyes of Diamond’s attorney, Marcus Gorman (who scraps a promising political career for the more elemental excitement of the criminal underworld), we watch as Legs and his showgirl mistress, Kiki Roberts, blaze their gaudy trail across the tabloid pages of the 1920s and 1930s. William Kennedy’s Albany Cycle of novels reflect what he once described as the fusion of his imagination with a single place. A native and longtime resident of Albany, New York, his work moves from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, chronicling family life, the city’s netherworld, and its spheres of power—financial, ethnic, political—often among the Irish-Americans who dominated the city in this period. The novels in his cycle include, Legs, Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game, Ironweed, Quinn’s Book, Very Old Bones, The Flaming Corsage, and Roscoe.

The beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, basis of the film starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. Francis Phelan, ex-big-leaguer, part-time gravedigger, full-time bum with the gift of gab, is back in town. He left Albany twenty-two years earlier after he dropped his infant son accidentally, and the boy died. Now he''s on the way back to the wife and home he abandoned, haunted at every corner by the ghosts of his violent life. Francis; his wino ladyfriend of nine years, Helen; and his stumblebum pal, Rudy, shuffle their ragtag way through the city''s bleakest streets, surviving on gumption, muscatel, and black wit. estiny is not their business. ''The premise of Ironweed was so unpromising, that in marketing terms the writer still to this day finds it funny: the story of a bunch of itinerant alcoholics, knocking around Kennedy''s hometown, falling out, having visions, trying to pass for sober to cadge a bed for the night in the homeless shelter.'' Guardian ''But for all the rich variety of prose and event, from hallucination to bedrock realism to slapstick and to blessed quotidian peace, ''''Ironweed'''' is more austere than its predecessors. It is more fierce, but also more forgiving.'' Quoted from the classic New York Times review of Ironweed, which made it an overnight sensation.

From the moment he rescues the beautiful, passionate Maud Fallon from the icy waters of the Hudson one wintry day in 1849, Daniel Quinn is thrust into a bewildering, adventure-filled journey through the tumult of nineteenth-century America. As he quests after the beguiling and elusive Maud, Daniel will witness the rise and fall of great dynasties in upstate New York, epochal prize fights, exotic life in the theatre, visitations from spirits beyond the grave, horrific battles between Irish immigrants and the "Know-Nothings," vicious New York draft riots, heroic passages through the Underground Railroad, and the bloody despair of the Civil War. Filled with Dickensian characters, a vivid sense of history, and a marvellously inventive humor, Quinn''s Bookis an engaging delight by an acclaimed modern master.

It is 1958 and the Phelan clan has gathered to hear Peter Phelan''s will, read by the living Peter himself, an artist whose paintings about members of the family have given him belated critical recognition. The paintings illuminate the lives of his brother Francis (the exiled hero of Ironweed), and a family ancestor, Malachi McIlhenny, a true madman beset by demons, and determined to send them back to hell. Orson Purcell, bastard son of Peter, and half-mad himself, encounters his first true solace through this obsessive and close-knit family he has never quite entered; most especially through his Aunt Molly, whose intense love affair holds secrets that only another love can resurrect. It is through Orson''s modern eye that we see the tragedies, obsessions, and clandestine joys of this singular family. This is climatic work in William Kennedy''s Albany Cycle, riding on the melody of its language and the power of its story, which is full of surprise, comedy, terror, and earthly delight.

Billy Phelan, a slightly tarnished poker player, pool hustler, and small-time bookie, moves through the lurid nighttime glare of a tough Depression-era town. A resourceful man full of Irish pluck, Billy works the fringes of Albany sporting life with his own particular style and private code of honor until he finds himself in the dangerous position of potential go-between in the kidnapping of a political boss''s son. In relating Billy''s fall from the underworld grace and his storybook redemption, Kennedy captures the seamy underside of a brassy, sweaty city that would prefer to pretend that the Depression doesn''t exist.

“Thick with crime, passion, and backroom banter” (The New Yorker), Roscoe is an odyssey of great scope and linguistic verve, a deadly, comic masterpiece from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ironweed It''s V-J Day, the war is over, and Roscoe Conway, after twenty-six years as the second in command of Albany''s notorious political machine, decides to quit politics forever. But there''s no way out, and only his Machiavellian imagination can help him cope with the erupting disasters. Every step leads back to the past—to the early loss of his true love, the takeover of city hall, the machine''s fight with FDR and Al Smith to elect a governor, and the methodical assassination of gangster Jack "Legs" Diamond. William Kennedy’s Albany Cycle of novels reflect what he once described as the fusion of his imagination with a single place. A native and longtime resident of Albany, New York, his work moves from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, chronicling family life, the city’s netherworld, and its spheres of power—financial, ethnic, political—often among the Irish-Americans who dominated the city in this period. The novels in his cycle include, Legs, Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game, Ironweed, Quinn’s Book, Very Old Bones, The Flaming Corsage, and Roscoe.

In a Manhattan hotel room, the "Love Nest Killings of 1908" take place. But the mystery of who killed whom, and why, does not unravel until we explore the lives of Katrina Taylor and Edward Daughtery. He is a first-generation Irish American and a successful playwright. She is a high-born Protestant, a beautiful seductive woman with complex attitudes towards life. Their marriage is a passionate one, but a cataclysmic hotel fire changes it into something else altogether. Moving back and forth between the 1880s and 1912, The Flaming Corsagefollows Katrina and Edward as other lives impact upon theirs-their socially opposed families; Edward''s flirtatious actress paramour, Melissa Spencer; the physician Giles Fitzroy, and his wife; and Edward''s friend, the cynical journalist Thomas Maginn. The Flaming Corsageevocatively portrays through the lens of Albany''s robust Irishtown and English-Dutch aristocracy the seething, contradictory impulses of our humanity, lusts and furies that know no bounds of time or place.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ironweed offers an eloquent history of his colorful hometown in this marvelous book that''s part journalism and part memoir. William Kennedy''s celebrated cycle of novels has put Albany on the literary map. In O Albany! we visit the city''s ethnic and social neighborhoods. We meet uncommon characters who tread on Kennedy''s stage—Erastus Corning, America''s longest-running mayor (forty-three years in office); the Prohibition celebrity Jack "Legs" Diamond; the black matriarch Olivia Rorie, who transformed Albany''s slums; Nelson Rockefeller and the "greatest marble project in the history of the world"; the political boss Dan O''Connell, who took City Hall in 1921 and never let go, even after he died. Embellished with fifty-five vintage photographs and eleven maps drawn for this book, O Albany! is a historical lover letter from Kennedy to his native city. “A nice blend of nostalgia and serious history...You come away from this book''s fascinating view of the American experience, the human experience, feeling hopeful.”—The New York Times Book Review

My Secret Life is the author’s account of his personal struggle to overcome societal norms that overwhelmed him throughout his life and almost defeated him. His struggle, while unique and personal, required courage, resilience, and strength and is one that can be related to and recognized by all. His powerful, open, and compelling account of his battle to overcome the psychological, mental, and emotional effects caused by living a secret life, and how he almost lost that battle, is a story of monumental triumph over adversity. The informal and very personal writing style draws the reader into a personal, historical, yet contemporary history, very relevant for the times we are living in today. A strong bond is formed between the reader and the author as they share in the moments of despair, pain, and fear, but also hope and joy, climaxing in the triumph of life over adversity. Like a phoenix from the flames, the author’s captivating, engrossing account of his life hopes to inspire and liberate others, setting them free to live an open, fully authentic life, free from the shame and fear of living with a secret.

To read these interviews given between 1969 and 1996 is to gain insights into William Kennedy''s high seriousness in pursuing the craft of fiction and to witness the artistic growth of this remarkable writer. The twenty-four interviews in this collection reveal how the opportunities and challenges in Kennedy''s writing life parallel those other contemporary writers have faced in the last years of the century.The high drama of imagined worlds, he says, becomes a Rosetta Stone, the key that unlocks the very real mysteries and complexities of our daily lives.You''re inventing out of a confluence of known facts and random ideas, he says about the process of writing, juxtaposing reality and abstractions, and then wham! You''ve got something brand new in your head, and on the page. You''re functioning on a plane of existence you didn''t know was possible. That''s creation, and it''s profound pleasure. It''s what you live for.Readers of these interviews will be privy to another process as well, the arduous but exciting process by which Kennedy has emerged as a major voice in contemporary letters. His meteoric rise to fame in 1983 and his continuing popularity since are the stuff of drama and folklore. In that year his novel Ironweed, rejected earlier by thirteen publishers, was finally published by Viking. It earned him a MacArthur Award, the New York Book Critics Circle Award, and a Pulitzer Prize. Governor Mario Cuomo honored him with the New York State Governor''s Arts Award and declared that in Kennedy Albany (had) found its Homer. Hollywood came calling and secured screen rights to Ironweed, Legs, and Billy Phelan''s Greatest Game. With Francis Ford Coppola, Kennedy co-wrote thescreenplay of The Cotton Club.The career that lifted off with such dramatic momentum has shown no signs of flagging. With steady regularity, Kennedy continues to add to his Albany Cycle of novels, as he experiments boldly with the craft of fiction.

A “wildly funny” novel of a monumentally unsuccessful newspaper strike in 1960s upstate New York from a Pulitzer Prize–winning author (People). The newspaper strike has stretched on for more than a year. When it began, the Guild boasted over 250 members. Now, they’re down to eighteen, with only three truly serious about the cause. Their leader, Bailey, is a columnist with an outsize sense of his own importance and a hatred of scabs that borders on fanaticism. Married to a roller derby queen, but smitten with one of his fellow radicals, Bailey is on a path of self-destruction that could take the entire city’s newspaper establishment down along with him. And that’s just what he has in mind. With the cape-wearing old-school Rosenthal at his side, Bailey embarks on a mad mission: hijacking the newspaper’s entire ink shipment and dumping it in the snow. But he’s hardly taken his first step when the scheme spins out of control, trapping him between armies of gypsies, scabs, and the wildest hippies New York has to offer. Set in a city closely resembling his native Albany, the fiction debut of William Kennedy is “a bawdy Celtic romp,” foreshadowing the wit and imagination that marked his literary career (Time).

The collected nonfiction of the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Ironweed: “A great pleasure to read no matter what the subject” (Library Journal). When William Kennedy arrives in Barcelona, his guidebook recommends taking the trolley around town—but the trolleys haven’t run in the city for years. He’s on his way to interview the novelist Gabriel García Márquez when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees something impossible: a yellow trolley running down the street. Márquez, however, is not surprised; like all great writers of both fiction and nonfiction, he knows that impossible things happen every day. A remarkable collection from one of America’s greatest authors, Riding the Yellow Trolley Car features work from all stages of Kennedy’s career. Through each piece runs the thread that ties together his greatest works: a love and deep understanding of his hometown, the city of Albany, New York, and the good and evil men who have made it what it is. Featuring interviews and essays on some of the most prominent authors of the twentieth century, from Saul Bellow and E. L. Doctorow to Norman Mailer and the legendary García Márquez—as well as insightful reflections on topics from baseball to the death of a prominent cat to Kennedy’s wife’s hiccups—Riding the Yellow Trolley Car is an essential book for all those who love to read, or live to write.

When journalist Daniel Quinn meets Ernest Hemingway at the Floridita bar in Havana, Cuba, in 1957, he has no idea that his own affinity for simple, declarative sentences will change his life radically overnight. So begins William Kennedy''s latest novel -- a tale of revolutionary intrigue, heroic journalism, crooked politicians, drug-running gangsters, Albany race riots, and the improbable rise of Fidel Castro. Quinn''s epic journey carries him through the night clubs and jungles of Cuba and into the newsrooms and racially charged streets of Albanny on he day Robert Kennedy is fatally shot in 1968.

This text is a facsimile edition of the first history of the cinema by W.K.L. Dickson and Antonia Dickson. The book was first published in 1895 when practical moving pictures were only two years old.

Summary Go in Action introduces the Go language, guiding you from inquisitive developer to Go guru. The book begins by introducing the unique features and concepts of Go. Then, you''ll get hands-on experience writing real-world applications including websites and network servers, as well as techniques to manipulate and convert data at speeds that will make your friends jealous. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. About the Technology Application development can be tricky enough even when you aren''t dealing with complex systems programming problems like web-scale concurrency and real-time performance. While it''s possible to solve these common issues with additional tools and frameworks, Go handles them right out of the box, making for a more natural and productive coding experience. Developed at Google, Go powers nimble startups as well as big enterprises—companies that rely on high-performing services in their infrastructure. About the Book Go in Action is for any intermediate-level developer who has experience with other programming languages and wants a jump-start in learning Go or a more thorough understanding of the language and its internals. This book provides an intensive, comprehensive, and idiomatic view of Go. It focuses on the specification and implementation of the language, including topics like language syntax, Go''s type system, concurrency, channels, and testing. What''s Inside Language specification and implementation Go''s type system Internals of Go''s data structures Testing and benchmarking About the Reader This book assumes you''re a working developer proficient with another language like Java, Ruby, Python, C#, or C++. About the Authors William Kennedy is a seasoned software developer and author of the blog GoingGo.Net. Brian Ketelsen and Erik St. Martin are the organizers of GopherCon and coauthors of the Go-based Skynet framework. Table of Contents Introducing Go Go quick-start Packaging and tooling Arrays, slices, and maps Go''s type system Concurrency Concurrency patterns Standard library Testing and benchmarking

A Chocolate Concept is a different take on eating healthy with simplicity and fun. The author believes some parts of life don''t have to be complicated. He has a somewhat different dietary background and shares some admittedly novel ideas.

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“Kennedy''s justly acclaimed Albany Cycle [is] one of the imperishable products of American literature since the Second World War. These books can be read singly or in sequence, but read they must be. Kennedy is one of our necessary writers.”—GQ Legs inaugurated William Kennedy’s celebrated cycle of novels set in Albany, New York. True to both life and myth. Legs evokes the flamboyant career of the legendary gangster Jack “Legs” Diamond, who was finally murdered in Albany, and his showgirl mistress as they blaze a trail across the tabloid pages of the 1920s and 1930s. The second novel in the Albany cycle depicts Billy Phelan, a slightly tarnished poker player, pool hustler, and small-time bookie, as he moves through the lurid nighttime glare of a tough Depression-era town. Full of Irish pluck, he works the fringes of Albany sporting life with his own particular style—until he falls from underworld grace. In the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Ironweed, Francis Phelan, ex-ballplayer, part-time gravedigger, and full-time drunk, has hit bottom. Years ago he left Albany after killing a scab during a workers’ strike, and again after he accidentally—and fatally—dropped his infant son. Now, in 1938, Francis is back, roaming familiar streets and trying to make peace with ghosts of the past and present. William Kennedy’s Albany Cycle of novels reflect what he once described as the fusion of his imagination with a single place. A native and longtime resident of Albany, New York, his work moves from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, chronicling family life, the city’s netherworld, and its spheres of power—financial, ethnic, political—often among the Irish-Americans who dominated the city in this period. The novels in his cycle include, Legs, Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game, Ironweed, Quinn’s Book, Very Old Bones, The Flaming Corsage, and Roscoe.

In Albany, New York, William Kennedy has made a crucible to test the American dream. His novels - which range from the middle of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth - bubble and crack with the energy of Irish immigrants trying to take the main chance in the land of opportunity. In QUINN''S BOOK, Daniel Quinn is thrust into a bewildering adventure through nineteenth-century America, witnessing the rise and fall of great dynasties in upstate New York, epochal prize fights, exotic life in the theatre and horrific battles between Irish immigrants and the ''Know-Nothings''. THE FLAMING CORSAGE unravels the mystery of Manhattan''s ''Love Nest Killings of 1908''. And in LEGS - perhaps Kennedy''s most brilliant creation - the celebrity gangster Jack ''Legs'' Diamond and his show-girl mistress blaze their flamboyant trail across the tabloid pages of the 1920s and 1930s, ending with his murder in Albany.