Legs (1975) - William Kennedy Audiobook

Written by William Kennedy
Read by Jo Barrett
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

The Albany Cycle, Book 1
Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
Release date: 08-11-09
Publisher: Audible Studios

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.

The story is told in a series of vignette chapters each with the name “Jack” in the title. Each one fills in consecutive order details of the life of Legs and his relationships with his wife, his lover, his lawyer and his gang. The language is colloquial with lots of slang that gives the book a realistic feel.

The last track is an interview with author Russell Banks.

One reader suggested..
“Another book written about gangsters in the same era that I highly recommend is Billy Bathgate by E. L. Doctorow, published in 1989 and winner of the 1990 National Book Critics Circle Award and 1990 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction.”

Billy Bathgate is uploaded…..