Author William Kennedy taps into this rich history in his An Albany Trio, three books that take place in Depression-era Albany. While Kennedy includes a disclaimer towards the fictitiousness of the Albany in his books, the city he builds from his characters is as real as any city ever was.

The first novel in An Albany Trio, Legs, tells the story of Jack “Legs” Diamond, a charismatic bootlegger and a powerful figure in Albany’s underworld. The real Diamond was a bootlegger, and did achieve his fair share of notoriety.

The novel is told from the point of view of Marcus Glover, the lawyer Diamond hires to keep him out of jail. Through Glover’s dealings with Diamond, Glover comes to understand what Diamond is and what he represents: something timeless, something electric, and, in some ways, just a simple businessman.

Legs tells a story about Albany, too. In the world of Legs, Albany, and the rest of upstate New York, is a bootlegger’s paradise. More importantly, Albany becomes the home of the myth that “Legs” Diamond became, quite different from either the real person or the character in Legs. Albany becomes the home of the essence of gangster codified into the legend of one man, Jack “Legs” Diamond.

If Legs expresses the entrepreneurial spirit of Albany, then Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game, the second of the three novels, expresses its political spirit. Billy Phelan, accomplished bowler, billiards player, and gambler, finds himself in a tough spot after his friend Martin Daugherty wins an unexpected horse race bet. Martin Daugherty is a columnist for the Albany Times Union, one of the book’s many references to the real Albany.

This fictitious Albany is run by the McCall family, which controls all of the political machinery in the capital region. Suddenly the rumor that Charlie McCall has been kidnapped hits the streets. Billy Phelan, who has connections in Albany, is given an offer by the McCalls: help sniff out the kidnappers and enjoy the good graces of the most powerful family in town. When Phelan refuses, he faces the McCalls’ anger instead.

The Albany in Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game is a political world, where the takeover of one political party by another is a major news event. The fictional McCalls control everything in their Albany, from elections to officials to the bars on Broadway. The family’s network is frequently referred to as the McCall machine.

Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game also overviews the history of the North Albany/Troy area, starting with the namesake of Colonie Street, The Colonie, and its first patroon, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer.

With the underworld of Albany detailed in Legs, and the origins and politics of Albany fleshed out in Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game, the only remaining aspect of the city—its soul—becomes reality in Ironweed, the third book in An Albany Trio.

Ironweed follows Francis Phelan, the imagined father of Billy Phelan. As a young worker, Francis Phelan kills a scab during a trolley worker’s strike, then runs, fearful of the consequences. Eventually he returns, and has a family, including Billy. But when Francis’ thirteen-day-old son Gerald slips out of Francis’ arms, falls and dies, Francis Phelan runs away and does not come back for twenty-two years.

When he does come back, around the time when the events of Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game are occurring, he wanders through the city, living on day labor, and reminiscing with the ghosts of his past: Howard Allen, the scab he killed, Rowdy Dick Doolan, the bum who took two fingers off of Francis’ right hand, and many others.

By following Francis’ travels, the reader experiences first-hand who the real people of Albany are, the bums, the laborers, the ordinary guys you see on the street. Ironweed gives Albany a soul.