Bootlegger of the Soul

Suzanne Lance is Associate Director of the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Paul Grondahl is Director of the New York State Writers Institute and is the author of several books, including Mayor Corning: Albany Icon, Albany Enigma and I Rose Like a Rocket: The Political Education of Theodore Roosevelt.

"Bootlegger of the Soul captures Kennedy's impact as a multitalented author through essays, interviews, and reviews, and serves as a biography, memoir, anthology, and tribute in one." — Hudson River Valley Review"There are no dead sentences in [Kennedy's] work. His language is vigorous, full of energy … He's just a pure writer." — Saul Bellow"William Kennedy's cycle of Albany novels may be one of the most exuberant literary feats of the past half-century." — Colum McCann"Kennedy's art is an eccentric triumph, a quirky, risk-taking imagination at play upon the solid paving stones, the breweries, the politicos, and pool sharks of an all-too-actual city." — Thomas Flanagan

• Preface: Conjuring Ghosts with William Kennedy Part I. About Kennedy and His Work: Reviews, Profiles, and InterviewsIntroduction to Part OneThe Sudden Fame of William KennedyMargaret CroydenO Albany! O Kennedy!Doris GrumbachWilliam Kennedy: InterviewEdward SchwarzschildHuman Capital: O Albany! Pays Homage to the Hard-to-Love City That Is the Greatest Hero of Kennedy’s NovelsStefan BeckViolent Places: On Ghosts, Bums, and Redemption in Ironweed Robert TowersThe Literary Brilliance of the Opening of Ironweed Donald NewloveRattling Great Yarn: Quinn’s Book Fintan O’TooleFamily Values: William Kennedy’s Very Old Bones Thomas R. EdwardsBootlegger of the Soul: An Introduction to Roscoe Colum McCannO Albany! Roscoe and the Triumph of Kennedy’s Albany CycleThomas FlanaganWorld Premiere of Roscoe: American Opera at Its FinestAnthony P. RadfordJam Session: A Review of Changó’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes John SaylesAn Interview with William Kennedy: From Novelist to ScreenwriterWilliam PatrickPhotos: William Kennedy’s Literary Biography Part II. Kennedy in His Own Words: Essays, Speeches, Memorial Tributes, and Creative WorkIntroduction to Part TwoWhy It Took So LongReinventing Albany in Fiction: Notes from a Native SonLearning from Faulkner: The Obituary of FearGifts from JoyceSaul Bellow In Memoriam (1915–2005): A Great Insistent GiftA Nonpareil Force Field: A Tribute to Norman MailerA Box of Books: An Exchange, on Matters Literary and Postal, with Hunter S. ThompsonThe Secrets of Creative Love: A Short StoryIn the System: A Technology PlayPhotos: William Kennedy’s Albany—The City and InspirationPart III. Scholarly Perspectives: Critical Views of Kennedy’s NovelsIntroduction to Part ThreeWilliam Kennedy as Journalist: Springboard to NovelistDouglas BrinkleyEdward and Katrina Daugherty: A Match Made in Albany, Not in HeavenVivian Valvano LynchThe Snows of Reduction: Representing Homelessness in Ironweed Benedict GiamoA Magical Time in AlbanyChristian MichenerThe Cyclical Impulse of The Flaming Corsage Michael Patrick GillespieCourtesans, Stars, Wives, and Vixens: The Many Faces of Female Power in Kennedy’s NovelsNeila C. SeshachariEpilogue Acknowledgments Contributors Index