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alisonjfields's review
4.0
Wonderful book. Includes a hilarious Hemingway, a lush, riveting Cuban revolutionary caper and what amounts to a terrific, jazzy, angry and bewildering bar crawl through Albany in the heat of the 1968 riots. Seriously great stuff. My favorite Kennedy outside of the sublime Ironweed.[b:Ironweed|267243|Ironweed|William Kennedy|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347849700s/267243.jpg|1268146]
thebeardedpoet's review
2.0
The first third of this book is a delightful tribute to Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway appears several times as a supporting character, and these scenes are funny and true to Hemingway's personality. The narrative of a journalist from Albany NY in Cuba during the revolution fits well with Hemingway's literary terrain. I enjoyed the dramatic love story as well.
The middle third of the book is a hodgepodge of scenes back in Albany NY. A variety of characters are depicted and the only unifying element is either family connections or longstanding associations and friendships. While some of the scenes are engaging, I was not prepared for all this jumping around.
Clearly Kennedy had a batch of short stories but his publisher wouldn't let him put it out as a story collection. It's called a novel, but does not hold together the way a novel ought to. Feeling adrift in a random series of events, I gave up on this book before finishing it.
The middle third of the book is a hodgepodge of scenes back in Albany NY. A variety of characters are depicted and the only unifying element is either family connections or longstanding associations and friendships. While some of the scenes are engaging, I was not prepared for all this jumping around.
Clearly Kennedy had a batch of short stories but his publisher wouldn't let him put it out as a story collection. It's called a novel, but does not hold together the way a novel ought to. Feeling adrift in a random series of events, I gave up on this book before finishing it.
amylee218's review against another edition
3.0
The writing of certain scenes was so well-done. I preferred the Albany scenes to those of Cuba, and I loved George Quinn.
hah1017's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first novel that I've read by William Kennedy, and I will probably seek out some of his other work as a result since there were portions of it that I enjoyed very much. Overall, though, I found this book to be kind of a mess. There were times when it seemed to be trying to hard to say something IMPORTANT, but those passages were more often than not very muddled.
jeanetterenee's review against another edition
2.0
I struggled doggedly through the first 95 pages because the plot really interested me, but it was just too chaotic and hard to follow. Finally my brain shut down and refused to read another page. I felt a little better about giving it up after reading some reviews from serious William Kennedy fans who said he was not at his best in this one.
One of the things I found very frustrating was the way he introduces so many minor characters with very little to distinguish them, and then keeps referring to them without reminding us of who they are. Are the from the past? present? Are they cousins? friends? lovers? revolutionaries? gunrunners? aunts? uncles? cartoon characters? I couldn't keep 'em straight, hard as I tried.
One of the things I found very frustrating was the way he introduces so many minor characters with very little to distinguish them, and then keeps referring to them without reminding us of who they are. Are the from the past? present? Are they cousins? friends? lovers? revolutionaries? gunrunners? aunts? uncles? cartoon characters? I couldn't keep 'em straight, hard as I tried.
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