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William Kennedy

William Kennedy Books

Writer

William Kennedy, born on January 16, 1928, is a renowned American writer known for his intricate portrayals of American society and history. His works are celebrated for their deep insights into the complexities of American life, particularly his skill in showcasing local characteristics and the fates of individuals.

Roscoe

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Billy Phelan's Greatest Game

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Quinn's Book

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Very Old Bones

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Related Quotes

“In the years after the death of Petrus, Hillegond had refused all offers of marriage, certain that her knowledge of men, despite her uncountable intimate encounters with them, was seriously bescrewed. Further, she grew certain from a recurring nightmare that should she ever consider a man as a second spouse, he would strangle her in her bed with a ligature.”

Men Bescrewed Ligature

Book:Quinn's Book

Source: Quinn's Book

“Billy's native arrogance might well have been a gift of miffed genes, then come to splendid definition through the tests to which a street like Broadway puts a young man on the make: tests designed to refine a breed, enforce a code, exclude all simps and gumps, and deliver into the city's life a man worthy of functioning in this age of nocturnal supremacy. Men like Billy Phelan, forged in the brass of Broadway, send, in the time of their splendor, telegraphic statements of mission: I, you bums, am a winner. And that message, however devoid of Christ-like other-cheekery, dooms the faint-hearted Scottys of the night, who must sludge along, never knowing how it feels to spill over with the small change of sassiness, how it feels to leave the spillover on the floor, more where that came from, pal. Leave it for the sweeper.”

Gambling Pool 1920s Hustling Jazz Age Stories

Book:Billy Phelan's Greatest Game

Source: Billy Phelan's Greatest Game

“Aspiring writers should read the entire canon of literature that precedes them, back to the Greeks, up to the current issue of The Paris Review.”

Should Literature Issues Currents Greek Paris Reviews Canon Aspiring Writers

Author:William Kennedy

“Anger makes people stupid.”

Book:Very Old Bones

Source: Very Old Bones

“You have to beat your own problematic imagination to discover what it is you're saying and how to say it and move forward into the unknown.”

Moving Imagination Beats Moving Forward

Author:William Kennedy

“Everyone is interesting except the narrator in a first-person story.”

Firsts Persons Stories Interesting Crafts First Person Narrators

Author:William Kennedy

“Roscoe was spiritually illegal, a bootlegger of the soul, a mythic creature made of words and wit and wild deeds and boundless memory.”

Made Soul Memories Creatures Deeds Wit Illegal Boundless

Book:Roscoe

Source: Roscoe

“Well-lit streets discourage sin, but don't overdo it.”

Wells Sin Streets Lit Discouraging

Book:Roscoe

Source: Roscoe

“We are only possible as what happened to us yesterday. We all change as well move”

Wells Moving Happened Yesterday

Author:William Kennedy

“There's only a short walk from the hallelujah to the hoot.”

Walks Hallelujah Hoot

Author:William Kennedy

“Without a sense of place the work is often reduced to a cry of voices in empty rooms, a literature of the self, at its best poetic music; at its worst a thin gruel of the ego.”

Self Literature House Voice Rooms Worst Cry Ego Empty Poetic Sense Of Place Empty Rooms

Author:William Kennedy

About the Author

Born: January 16, 1928
Known for: Writer
Quotes: 11

Related Topics

Literature Moving Wells 1920s Aspiring Writers Beats Bescrewed Boundless Canon Crafts

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

RoscoeRelated source material

Billy Phelan's Greatest GameRelated source material

Quinn's BookRelated source material

Very Old BonesRelated source material

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