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Legs

By: William Kennedy
Narrated by: Joe Barrett
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Summary

Legs inaugurated William Kennedy's 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. Through the equivocal eyes of Diamond's attorney, Marcus Gorman (who scraps a promising political career for the 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.

As an added bonus, when you purchase our Audible Modern Vanguard production of William Kennedy's book, you'll also receive an exclusive Jim Atlas interview. This interview – where James Atlas interviews Russell Banks about the life and work of William Kennedy – begins as soon as the audiobook ends.

©1983 William Kennedy (P)2009 Audible, Inc.
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Critic reviews

"Narrator Joe Barrett’s raspy no-nonsense voice is tangibly matched to the cigarette-smoking, whiskey-drinking toughs of the novel, and his timing with the speakeasy patter is spot-on." (AudioFile)
"Pure literary excitement...easy to read and hard to put down. I enjoyed it from beginning to end and wished it were longer." (Joseph Heller)
"Seductive portrait...a very skillful story, full of bounce and wit." (Newsweek)

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Fictionalised Life of 'Legs' Diamond

This, the first book in William Kennedy's 'Albany Cycle', presents a fictionalised life of the bootlegger and racketeer Jack 'Legs' Diamond, a one-time associate of Al Capone, as related by his lawyer, Marcus Gorman.

As with all the best historical fiction, the author sticks to the known facts about Diamond's life and uses his imagination to fill in the gaps making for a coherent and plausible narrative.

It is a pity that only the first three books in the cycle are available on Audible, but I can also recommend the other two.



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