Legs is a novel by William Kennedy that was first published in 1975. It is the first in a series of eight novels set in Kennedy’s hometown of Albany, New York, in what would come to be known as his “Albany cycle.” Legs tells the story of a legendary prohibition era gangster, Jack “Legs” Diamond, who goes from being romanticized by the public in the freewheeling 1920s to being increasingly a man out of time as prohibition is coming to an end and the Great Depression is taking hold in 1931.

Summary

Read the detailed chapter-by-chapter Summary & Analysis or the Full Book Summary of Legs.

Characters

See a complete list of the characters in Legs and in-depth analyses of Jack Diamond, Marcus Gorman, Alice Diamond, and Kiki Roberts.

Literary Devices

Here is where you will find analysis of the main themes, motifs, and symbols in Legs.

Quotes

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Deeper Study

Go further in your study of Legs by reading background information about William Kennedy and his novel as well as mini essays on key topics.

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