Reading William Kennedy

A favorite of library and community reading groups William Kennedy is bestknown for his novels Ironweed and Flaming Corsage. This eminently readable bookprovide... » 

A favorite of library and community reading groups William Kennedy is bestknown for his novels Ironweed and Flaming Corsage. This eminently readable bookprovides a helpful introduction to students and others interested in his work.With engaging finesse Michael Patrick Gillespie provides a keen analysis ofKennedys bestknown works a firm base for interpretation and a betterunderstanding of the cultural world that shapes the characters and informs theplots of Kennedys novels.Rather than laying down what one should see when reading Kennedys works thebook moves to the next stage of exploring diverse responses to Kennedys canonbroadening the readers awareness of the range of alternative strategies andperspective.Gillespie begins with an introduction that lays out the imaginative context forKennedys work. Subsequent chapters in three parts provide extendedtreatments of his early work key elements in the first three Albany novelsand finally the maturity of his overall fiction. «