Thursday, November 17, 2011

Bill Kennedy at the Miami Book Fair Yesterday

"William Kennedy, a Miami Book Fair standout," writes Chuck Strouse of the Miami New Times.

"Also here this week are dozens of other important American writers, from John Barth to John Sayles, Chuck Palahniuk to Calvin Trillin, and Harry Belafonte, Jim Lehrer, and Michael Moore. Though Kennedy isn't the biggest name, his story [Changó’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes] is among the most intertwined with South Florida. Not only does his tale wend through the Cuban revolution, which shaped Miami, but also it invokes Santería, our Afro-Cuban soul, and the Fontainebleau Hotel of the stylish '50s. Fidel Castro, once a William Kennedy fan, and Bing Crosby make cameos. Hemingway plays a pivotal role too, decking one tourist "with a right and then a looping left" before mixing it up in a duel." More.