O Albany!

アルバニーの歴史、政治、街の記憶を、エッセイと回想のかたちでたどる都市ポートレート。地元の人物像と都市の変化を重ね、個人史と公共史の境界をゆるやかに越えていく。

ノンフィクション都市史回想政治地域文化

作品情報

都市の肖像が、そのまま作家自身の記憶の地図になる。

William Kennedy によるアルバニー案内兼回想録。ジャーナリズムの視線と文学的な語りを行き来しながら、故郷の街を立体的に描く。

An historical profile of the capital of New York documents the neighborhoods, ethicity, culture, society, and colorful people of Albany

Like all of Bill Kennedy's book, this was a great read. I love reading about the era of machine politics and great American politicians and leaders. This book is a wonderful story of one of the longest lived and most endearing machine politics systems - Albany's O'Connell Machine. I heard tales from my uncle of days when the Democratic party, in which my grandfather was a ward leader (in Troy NY) and later a public works commissioner, really took care of their people - in exchange for a binding guarantee for their votes, of course. I am very proud of the very human and kind acts done for the people of the ward. The political machine of Grandpa's day had great power, and it used it for the benefit of the people.
...Kennedy's love for the capitol of New York is more heartfelt in all of his great fiction than in this somewhat turgid history. When you stack it next to such books as IRONWEED, VERY OLD BONES and THE FLAMING CORSAGE, O ALBANY reads rather dry by comparison, something Kennedy at his best seldom is.