Roscoe

Roscoe

by WilliamKennedy (Author)

Synopsis

From the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of IRONWEED and LEGS, ROSCOE is a comic journey into the dark heart of America's postwar democratic dream. It's V-J Day, World War II is finally over, and Roscoe is quitting politics after twenty-six years as chief brainstruster of Albany's notorious Democratic machine. The suave, brilliant, unscrupulous Falstaffian wants to hang up his white double-breasted Palm Beach suit and drift into retirement. But how will he relax his hold on the lid without the political pot boiling over, scalding his beloved and her family? Armed with the politician's most powerful credo - 'Righteousness doesn't stand a chance against the imagination' - Roscoe fights his final political battles. Every step forward leads Roscoe into the past - to the early loss of his true love, to his own particular heroics in World War I, the takeover of City Hall and the methodical assassination of the gangster Jack 'Legs' Diamond. ROSCOE is a comic masterpiece from one of America's most revered novelists.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 320
Publisher: Scribner
Published: 02 Sep 2002

ISBN 10: 0743220730
ISBN 13: 9780743220736

Media Reviews
Kennedy's splendid novel on American state politics is set in the place he knows best: his home town of Albany, capital of New York State. This clever period piece, circa 1945 and earlier, shows so clearly how the roots of America's post-war Democratic dream were tainted long before that other Kennedy, John F, and his brothers appeared. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author has such a sharp eye for irony and human fallibility that his novel is a droll delight. Roscoe is the seventh in his Albany cycle and it matters not if you haven't read such previous titles as Ironweed, as the vicarious ride through scandalous private lives is worth every cent. Roscoe is the name of the rapscallion lawyer in the wealthy inner circle who presides as fixer of every mess.
Author Bio
William Kennedy was born and raised in Albany, New York. His Albany Cycle of novels is one of the great achievements of postwar American literature, and includes LEGS, BILLY PHELAN'S GREATEST GAME, IRONWEED, VERY OLD BONES, QUINN'S BOOK and the FLAMING CORSAGE.