True to both life and myth, legs brilliantly evokes the f. Published in 1983, ironweed is the third entry in william kennedy s cycle of historical fiction set in albany, new york. The main characters of this fiction, historical story are. Thomas, washington post william kennedy s greatest game roscoe has a lyricism and a gusto rarely achieved in serious american novels about politics. William kennedy has 26 books on goodreads with 42275 ratings. Ironweed by william kennedy, first edition abebooks. Ironweed italian edition kindle edition by william. The first edition of the novel was published in 1983, and was written by william kennedy. After a pulitzer prize win and a film adaptation starring.
Francis phelan, exballplayer, parttime gravedigger, fulltime drunk, has hit bottom. Ironweed, william kennedy is making american literature. I recently read ironweed by william kennedy and thoroughly loved it. Legs 1975, which describes the last days of the gangster legs diamond, is told by marcus gorman, a lawyer. A s if winning a pulitzer prize and getting a macarthur fellowship following the publication of his novel ironweed in 1983 werent enough, william kennedy continued his lucky streak with a film. In this third novel in kennedys depressionalbany series, the focus is on aging, bumming francis phelan, sire of smalltown gambler billy billy phelans greatest came, 1978. It follows some bums in new york during the great depression. Free download or read online ironweed pdf epub the albany cycle series book. The washington post book world legs inaugurated william kennedys celebrated cycle of novels.
The beloved pulitzer prizewinning novel, basis of the film starring jack nicholson and meryl streep. It is included in the western canon of the critic harold bloom. Oh, i dont know, someone would have recognized kennedy someday. It received the 1984 pulitzer prize for fiction and is the third book in kennedys albany cycle. See all 4 formats and editions hide other formats and editions.
William joseph kennedy born january 16, 1928 is an american writer and journalist who won the 1984 pulitzer prize for his novel ironweed many of his novels feature the interactions of members of the fictional irishamerican phelan family in albany, new york. Apr 24, 2018 a s if winning a pulitzer prize and getting a macarthur fellowship following the publication of his novel ironweed in 1983 werent enough, william kennedy continued his lucky streak with a film. A lyrical novelist is less interested in his fictions than in his attitudes toward them. Analysis of william kennedys novels literary theory and. Pdf ironweed book the albany cycle free download 208 pages. George stade is a professor of english at columbia university and author of confessions of a ladykiller, a novel. Ironweed is loosely connected to kennedys earlier books by more than setting. In a 1992 interview with kennedy, former director of the new york state writers institute, the late tom smith.
It received the 1984 pulitzer prize for fiction and is the third book in kennedy s albany cycle. In 1960, kennedy took a course at the university of puerto rico with novelist saul bellow, who modestly recalled his role in helping get ironweed published years later. About ironweed winner of the pulitzer prize and the national book critics circle award for fiction in this pulitzer prizewinning novel, the third in kennedys albany cycle, francis phelan, exballplayer, parttime gravedigger, and fulltime bum with the gift of gab, has hit bottom. Francis phelan, exballplayer, parttime gravedigger. The premise of the club is to read a novel and then view the movie at the group meeting that was based on the novel. Ironweed, winner of the pulitzer prize, is the bestknown of william kennedy s three albanybased novels. Ironweed is william kennedy s fourth published novel and the third in his series set in albany, where he lives and teaches at the.
William kennedy, american author and journalist whose novels feature elements of local history, journalism, and supernaturalism. Apr 10, 2018 ironweed, meanwhile, had been rejected by publishers. For years, kennedy said, he had felt like joe btfsplk, a character in a popular 1970s cartoon who went around with a cloud over his head. It won the pulitzer in 1984 beating out cathedral by raymond carver and the feud by thomas berger, neither of which i have read yet.
Ironweed by william kennedy 1988, paperback, movie tiein. Francis phelan, exbigleaguer, parttime gravedigger, fulltime bum with the gift of gab, is back in town. Spanning a period from the late 1840s to the mid1860s, quinns book is a historical novel infused with magical realism, deliberately extravagant in style. Ironweed 1983, perhaps his bestknown book, was awarded a pulitzer prize.
The versatile kennedy wrote the screenplay for ironweed, the play grand view, and cowrote the screenplay for the the cotton club. It took a good for pages to get to the main characters but well worth it. Learn more about kennedy s life and career, including his other works. Kennedys ambitious vision and soaring imaginative powers make this book one of the richest, most startling, and most satisfying novels of recent years. Winner of the pulitzer prize and the national book critics circle award for fiction in this pulitzer prizewinning novel, the third in kennedy s albany cycle, francis phelan, exballplayer, parttime gravedigger, and fulltime bum with the gift of gab, has hit bottom. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 208 pages and is available in format.
As william kennedy shows, good writing is about what you. The novels make use of incidents from the citys history as well as the supernatural. When ironweed was published, kennedy was deep into his 50s. The albany cycle, includes legs, billy phelans greatest game, and the pulitzer prize winning ironweed. They were spoken of then as a trilogy, partly because they shared a setting and some. It didnt take long for an old dog like me to know kennedy was the real thing, even in 1960, when he was a student of mine in puerto rico.
William joseph kennedy born january 16, 1928 is an american writer and journalist who won the 1984 pulitzer prize for his novel ironweed. Many of his novels feature the interactions of members of the fictional irishamerican phelan family in albany, new york. Pdf ironweed book the albany cycle free download 208. Many of his novels feature the interaction of members of the fictional irishamerican phelan family, and make use of incidents of albanys history and the supernatural.
Kennedys works include the ink truck 1969, legs 1975. Ironweed, the pulitzer prizewinning novel by william kennedy, seems to belong to albany as much as the ghost of mayor corning. Ironweed is the remarkable story of francis phelan, once a talented major league baseball player, husband, and father of three, who has fallen so far from grace that his home for the past twentytwo years has been the street. William kennedy books list of books by author william kennedy.
Kennedy s celebrated 1983 novel, ironweed, has won great acclaim over the years, and has earned a pulitzer prize, a national book critics circle award, and a penfaulkner award. Ironweed by william kennedy meet your next favorite book. Ironweed is the third book of william kennedy s albany series which focuses on the character francis phelan, father of the protagonist of his previous book billy phelans greatest game and referring at times to events in the first book of this series, legs. His novel ironweed won the pulitzer prize and the national book critics circle award for fiction. Learn more about kennedys life and career, including his other works. Its very easy to get quality ebooks and there is a lot of books. The washington post book world legs inaugurated william kennedy s celebrated cycle of novels set in albany, new york. William kennedy was born and raised in albany, new york. Ironweed is william kennedy s fourth published novel and the third in his series. Ironweed, by william kennedy, won the 1984 pulitzer prize and national critics circle award for fiction.
This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch. January 23, 1983, sunday, late city final edition section 7. William kennedy books list of books by author william. Ironweed is loosely connected to kennedy s earlier books by more than setting. As i expected, the movie paled in comparison to the book, despite the screenplay being written by kennedy himself. What william kennedy has in mind is to tell two stories at once in ironweed. Ironweed is set during the great depression and tells the story of francis phelan, an alcoholic vagrant originally from. Author william kennedy takes us into the mind and heart of a homeless vagrant and explores the situations which have brought francis to this heartbreaking station in life. He began his writing career as a journalist, and his novels have been translated into two dozen languages. The item ironweed, william kennedy represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in indiana state library. Feb 07, 2019 ironweed william kennedy francis phelan, exballplayer, parttime gravedigger fulltime drunk, has hit bottom.
Years ago he left albany in a hurry after killing a scab during a trolley workers strike. The epigraph to the book is from dantes purgatory, so we know that it is about redemption and, of course, francis is seeking. In this third novel in kennedy s depressionalbany series, the focus is on aging, bumming francis phelan, sire of smalltown gambler billy billy phelans greatest came, 1978. Frankly, i have a prejudice against lyrical novels, and not just because they make me think of anais nin. New york state writers institute william kennedy, ironweed. Ironweed 1983billy phelans father, francis, a derelict on the run from his own demons and past mistakes, is the principal character of ironweed, a winner of the pulitzer prize and national book critics circle award for fiction. William kennedy is a writer with something to say, about matters that touch us all, and he says it with uncommon artistry. Ironweed by william kennedy is our underappreciated book for april. This book is the 649th greatest fiction book of all time as determined by.
Winner of the pulitzer prize and the national book critics circle award for fiction in this pulitzer prizewinning novel, the third in kennedys albany cycle, francis phelan, exballplayer, parttime gravedigger, and fulltime bum with the gift of gab, has hit bottom. Many of his novels feature the interaction of members of the fictional irish. In addition to writing novels, kennedy coauthored the screenplay for the cotton club with francis coppola in 1984 and wrote the screenplay for ironweed in 1987. Thomas mallon, atlantic monthly with roscoe, kennedy proves again that the american literary novel is. Ironweed is the third book of william kennedys albany series which focuses on the character francis phelan, father of the protagonist of his previous book billy phelans greatest game and referring at times to events in the first book of this series, legs.
Legs evokes the flamboyant career of the legendary gangster jack legs diamond, who was finally murdered in albany. Ironweed was his fourth novel, after the ink truck, a standalone novel, and the first two books of the albany cycle, legs and billy phelans greatest game. Ironweed by william kennedy 1984, paperback for sale. Ironweed is the third book of william kennedys albany series which focuses on the character francis phelan, father of the protagonist of his previous book billy. This was followed by billy phelans greatest game in 1978 and ironweed in 1983. Ironweed is the bestknown of william kennedy s three albanybased novels. Kennedy brought his native city to literary life in many of his works. It was the third in kennedy s cycle of novels of albany, new york, in the 1930s. Kennedy was the latest selection for a book club ive recently joined. As william kennedy shows, good writing is about what you can get away with. His albany cycle of novels is recognised as one of the great achievements of postwar american literature, and includes legs, billy phelans greatest game, ironweed, very old bones, quinns book and the flaming corsage. Francis phelan, haunted by ghosts from his past, returns home after twentytwo. Winner of the pulitzer prize and the national book critics circle award for fiction in this pulitzer prizewinning novel, the third in kennedys.
One is the gloriously checkered history of francis phelan as young lover of the neighbor lady in silk, star of baseball. The narrator and protagonist, daniel quinn, an orphan, relates his adventures and his gradual progress toward maturity. The novel details a few days in the life of francis phelan, a drifter long estranged from his. Ironweed 1983 billy phelans father, francis, a derelict on the run from his own demons and past mistakes, is the principal character of ironweed, a winner of the pulitzer prize and national book critics circle award for fiction.
Ironweed is nourished by kindred souls the new york times. Legs inaugurated william kennedy s brilliant cycle of novels including billy phelans greatest game and ironweed set in albany, new york. Id not heard of it before even though it had won the pulitzer in 1984. Kennedy s next novel, quinns book, also centers on albany.