The Ink Truck.

KENNEDY, William.

$75.00

Item Number: 149751

New York: Viking, 1985.

First printing of the re-issue of the author’s first book. Octavo, original publisher’s full cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by William Kennedy on the title page, “For Joel, William Kennedy.” Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Neil Stuart.

After serving in the Army, William Kennedy lived in Puerto Rico where he met his mentor, Saul Bellow, who encouraged him to write novels. While living in San Juan, he befriended journalist/author Hunter S. Thompson, a friendship that continued throughout their careers. Kennedy, who had been eager to leave Albany, returned to his hometown and worked for the Albany Times Union as an investigative journalist writing stories exposing activities of the O'Connell political machine. His first novel, The Ink Truck published in 1969, concerns a colorful columnist named Bailey who leads a strike at his newspaper in Albany. His use of Albany as the setting for seven of his novels has drawn comparison to James Joyce's use of Dublin.