''Billy Phelan's Greatest Game'' is a 1978 novel by
William Kennedy. It is the second book in Kennedy's
Albany Cycle.
Plot summary
The narrative is based on an actual event: The attempted 1933 kidnapping of John O'Connell Jr., the nephew of Albany Democratic boss
Daniel P. O'Connell.
In 1930s
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...
, Billy Phelan is a
hustler at
pool,
card sharp
A card sharp (also card shark, sometimes hyphenated or spelled as a single word) is a person who uses skill or deception to win at card games (such as poker). "Sharp" and "shark" spellings have varied over time and by region.
The label is not a ...
,
bowler, and occasional
bookmaker. Martin Daugherty is a reporter, and the son of a famous writer now grown old. Phelan and Daugherty become involved in the events surrounding the kidnapping of the son of a corrupt Albany political boss.
The kidnapping is the central point of the story, but Kennedy also details the everyday lives of the characters inhabiting Albany's working class and poor neighborhoods. Some of the characters, including Billy Phelan's father Francis, appear in ''
Ironweed'', the third installment of the Albany Cycle.
Adaptations
In 2009,
Audible.com produced an audio version of ''Billy Phelan's Greatest Game'', narrated by Nick Sullivan, as part of its ''Modern Vanguard'' line of audiobooks.
References
Sources
Internet
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Books
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1978 American novels
Viking Press books
Novels by William Kennedy
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