… funny, gloomy, terrifying, and joyful … Kennedy’s stories are as good as any I’ve been reading in the past ten years or more. His characters are full, alive, and each story is rich and deep. He writes with wisdom,
and it is perhaps that wisdom which turns some of his
stories of great sorrow into something triumphant.
—Andre Dubus, II, author of In the Bedroom and
We don’t Live Here Any More
You will find all 24 of Kennedy’s books listed here. First, the books are organized by category, and appear in alphabetical order within each category.
Then, in the Details section that follows the category lists, books are listed by Release Date, in reverse chronological order (i.e., books published most recently appear first).
Fiction: Novels
Fiction: Short Stories
Nonfiction: Essays
Nonfiction: Literary Criticism
Anthologies
In his capacity as Guest Editor, Kennedy has compiled the following anthologies:
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Book Details and Purchase Information
Books are listed here by Release Date, in reverse chronological order (i.e., books published most recently appear first).
In addition to Release Date for each book, Details may include specifications such as ISBN and name of publisher, a cover photo, a brief synopsis, and local links to excerpts, reviews, and video clips for selected books. Hyperlinks to commercial sites that stock Kennedy’s books may also appear for selected books.
Book Details may also include links to Google Book Search, where limited previews of several of Kennedy’s books are available.
Writers on the Job:
Tales of the Nonwriting Life
(with Walter Cummins)
Release Date: July 2008
Publisher: Hopewell Publications
ISBN: To be announced
Publisher’s Announcement
(opens in new, resizable window)
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Riding the Dog:
A Look Back at America
Book Cover Image (opens in new, resizable window and shows wrap-around view of front and back covers)
Reviews / Blurbs
Release Date: October 2008 (formerly May)
Publisher: New American Press
ISBN: 978-0-9729679-6-9
This collection comprises a quintet of essays:
- “Riding the Dog,” about a ride through the South on a Greyhound bus
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- “In the Dark,” an account of being in New York City during the 2003 blackout
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- “The Bridge Back to Queens,” a description of a visit back to Kennedy’s hometown in Queens
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- “Land Where My Fathers Wrote,” an essay about writers and bars in New York City
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- “Life in Another Language,” excerpted elsewhere at this website
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A Passion in the Desert
A novel about love and unfaithfulness in its various forms, in which a man’s long forgotten past circles back to stalk him.
Release Date: April 2007
Publisher: Wordcraft of Oregon
ISBN-10: 1-877655-52-X
ISBN-13: 978-1-877655-52-4
Excerpts
Reviews / Blurbs
Buy from Wordcraft of Oregon
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The Copenhagen Quartet
A ten-year project by Kennedy, consisting of four independent novels about the seasons and souls of the Danish capital, each written in a different style, all published by Wynkin de Worde Publishers in Ireland from 2002 through 2005. The novels can be read separately or together, in any particular order.
Two of these novels earned Eric Hoffer Book Awards for 2007:
Greene’s Summer: Micro Press Winner
Danish Fall: First Runner-Up, General Fiction
The four-volume series was also the subject of a DVD documentary film produced by Harper College in 2004 and screened in various universities and art houses in the U.S.
Get book details (including video clips) ...
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The Secret Life of Writers (with Walter Cummins)
A special anthology issue of The Literary Review (45:4), with essays by 22 writers about the life behind the writing. Includes essays by Duff Brenna, Janet McDonald, Greg Herriges, David Applefield, Linda Lappin, Susan Schwartz Senstad, and others.
Release Date: 2002
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson University
Archived issue of The Literary Review (45:4)
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Poems and Sources
A special anthology issue of The Literary Review (44:1), with poems by 30 poets, along with essays on how they came to compose the poem in question. Includes poems by John Updike, Charles Simic, Maxine Kumin, Carolyn Kizer, Eavan Boland, Robert Stewart, and others.
Release Date: 2000
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson University
Excerpts
Archived issue of The Literary Review (44:1)
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Stories and Sources
A special anthology issue of The Literary Review (42:1), with stories by 13 writers, followed by essays on how they came to write the story that appears in the anthology. Includes stories and essays by Andre Dubus II, Robert Coover, W.D. Wetherell, Susan Dodd, Gladys Swan, Duff Brenna, and others.
Release Date: 1998
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson University
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Drive, Dive, Dance & Fight
Eight stories, including an O. Henry Award winner, and several cited for honorable mention in the Pushcart Prize annual.
Release Date: 1997
Publisher: BkMk Press, University of Missouri
ISBN-10: 1-88615714-6
ISBN-13: 978-1-886157-14-9
Reviews / Blurbs
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Small Gifts of Knowing: New Irish Poetry and Prose
A special anthology issue of The Literary Review (40:4), with poems and prose by more than 50 contemporary Irish writers, including an interview of J.P. Donleavy by Kennedy, as well as original work by Dermot Bolger, Philip Davison, Tony Curtis, Eamon Grennan, Robert Greacen, Angela Greene, Paula Meehan, Theo Dorgan, and many others. Issue includes a portfolio of black and white Irish portraits by Ron Rosenstock.
Release Date: 1997
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson University
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A Weather of the Eye
A short novel setting out “with heart-rending accuracy” the response of a family whose father is cut down before his time.
Release Date: 1996
Publisher: Potpourri Publications
ISBN: 1-884754-23-6
Reviews / Blurbs
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New Danish Fiction
Anthology issue of The Review of Contemporary Fiction (XV:1), with previously unpublished English translations of work by Suzanne Brøgger, Peter Høeg, Ib Michael, Kirsten Thorup, and others.
Release Date: 1995
Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press/Center for Book Culture
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Index to American Short Story Award Collections, 1970-1990
Index lists short-story award winners of the Pushcart Prize, American Fiction Series, AWP Short Fiction Award, Drue Heinz Literature Prize, Iowa School of Letters Award, Flannery O’Connor Award, and University of Illinois Short Fiction Series.
Release Date: 1993
Publisher: G.K. Hall & Company/Macmillan
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Robert Coover: A Study of the Short Fiction
A study of the short fiction of this outstanding and hilariously funny metafictionist. Includes an interview with Coover and selections from other critics.
Release Date: 1992
Publisher: Twayne Publishers/G.K. Hall & Company/Macmillan
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The American Short Story Today (with Henrik Specht)
A collection of essays and bibliography on the state of the art [as it was] until the date of publication.
Out of Print
Release Date: 1991
Publisher: United States Information Service/Danish Association of American Studies
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Andre Dubus: A Study of the Short Fiction
The first and only book-length study to date of the short fiction of the legendary author, Andre Dubus II. Currently, this book is in the process of being updated and expanded to include a study of Dubus’s essay collections and his one published novel as well. The book includes a lengthy, instructive interview with this modern master.
Release Date: 1988
Publisher: Twayne Publishers/G.K. Hall & Company/Macmillan
ISBN-10: 0-805783-05-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-805783-05-6
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