The Last Hurrah | The Last Hurrah

At a glance:

Author: Edwin O’Connor
First Published: 1956
Type of Plot: Political
Time of Work: The 1950’s
Setting: A large New England city
Principal Characters: Frank Skeffington, Frank Skeffington, Jr., Adam Caulfield, Maeve Caulfield, Roger Sugrue, Amos Force, Sam Weinberg, John Gorman, Ditto Boland, The Cardinal, Kevin McCluskey
Genres: Long fiction, Political fiction
Subjects: 1950’s, Politics, Ethnic groups, Politicians, Ireland or Irish people
Locales: New England

The Last Hurrah is divided into four parts and fourteen chapters. The first three parts relate the tale of Frank Skeffington, former governor of an eastern state and now mayor of a large unidentified city, clearly meant to be Boston, and his campaign for reelection. The fourth section relates the election’s aftermath. Many commentators believe that O’Connor modeled Skeffington on James Michael Curley, several times mayor of Boston, onetime governor of Massachusetts, and the paradigm of the second-generation immigrant politician and big-city political boss....

The Last Hurrah | The Last Hurrah

At a glance:

The Novel

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