Comment

Jul 19, 2014lukasevansherman rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
"He smelled the odor that came up from his fetid crotch and stood up then and dropped his trousers. . .He lifted the toilet cover and sat on the seat, and with Jack's soap and handfuls of water from the bowl, he washed his genitals and buttocks, and all their encrusted orifices, crevices, and secret folds." I suppose this is a good example of what is sometimes called "dirty realism." And this is a book about dirty, unhappy people living in Albany, where many of Kennedy's books are set, during the depression. It was highly acclaimed when it came out, winning the Pulitzer, finding a place in Bloom's Western Canon, and becoming a film with Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. I found it well-written, but a bit like Bukowski without the vulgar humor. "These Albany novels will be memorable, a distinguished group of books."-Saul Bellow.