Corruption on the Hudson

Sam Sacks gives a strong review of Chango's Beads in the Wall Street Journal:

Usually when a writer approaches the end of his career, a consensus forms around what should be considered his best work. But in the case of William Kennedy's nine novels, each has its own champions.

Now, at age 83, Mr. Kennedy has published the jazzy "Changó's Beads and Two-Tone Shoes," which blends historical upheaval—the Cuban Revolution and American race riots—and family strife. More.

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Not a Book a Young Man Could Write

Here's the review by acclaimed filmmaker John Sayles of William Kennedy's new novel that appeared last Sunday on the front page of the New York Times Book Review:

"William Kennedy’s new novel, “Changó’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes,” is his most musical work of fiction: a polyrhythmic contemplation of time and its effects on passion set in three different eras, a jazz piece unafraid to luxuriate in its roots as blues or popular ballad or to spin out into less melodic territory....

"This is not a book a young man would or could write. There is the sense here of somebody who has seen and considered much, without letting his inner fire cool." More.

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