false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173282114m/267243.jpg 267243 9 Francis Phelan, ex-ballplayer, part-time gravedigger, full-time drunk, has hit bottom. Years ago he left Albany in a hurry after killing a scab during a trolley workers' strike. He ran away again after accidentally -- and fatally -- dropping his infant son. <P>Now, in 1938, Francis is back in town, roaming the old familiar streets with his hobo pal, Helen, trying to make peace with the ghosts of the past and the present. <P>"A powerfully affecting work, abounding in humor and heartbreak." (Chicago Tribune Bookworld) <P>IRONWEED is last in the Albany Trilogy, preceeded by LEGS and BILLY PHELAN'S GREATEST GAME. 1268146 1983 Ironweed total:1196|5:312|4:460|3:311|2:85|1:28| 1196 4531 1723 117 4 3 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 25 06:34:05 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 25 07:27:10 -0700 2008
I wanted to hate this book. There are portions of this book that are simply offensive. Those portions are significantly outweighed by Kennedy’s ability to create beautiful prose out of objectionable material. There are, no doubt, pages of this book ...more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Aug 05 08:53:34 -0700 2007 Mon Dec 17 15:38:09 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1989 Mon Dec 08 18:32:49 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 08 18:33:41 -0800 2008 2 4 2 false false Tue Mar 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 01 11:48:39 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 01 11:58:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Oct 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 07:01:39 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 09:12:35 -0700 2009 Ironweed certainly qualifies. I almost didn't finish it because I had a difficult time getting into the book but I'm glad I did.

William Kennedy writes like a poet. I wanted to read this book with a pencil so I could underl...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jul 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 22:54:15 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 16 09:35:16 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jun 23 01:20:31 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 01:28:36 -0700 2009
The prose was overstated for a bum book, but I grew to love i...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Aug 17 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 07 17:10:30 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 17 10:39:30 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Tue Jul 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 12:48:18 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 26 22:02:35 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 4 0 false true Mon Nov 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 08:24:30 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 08:32:25 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri May 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 23 09:11:59 -0700 2009 Fri May 08 14:31:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Aug 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 21:17:48 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 12:22:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Aug 05 20:29:44 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 20:11:18 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jul 04 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri May 30 20:34:34 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 16 16:00:32 -0700 2008 Littoral: the blog of the Key West Literary Seminar



Francis's hands, as he looked at them now, seemed to be messengers from some outlaw corner of his psyche, artificers of some involuntary doom element in his life. He seemed now to have always been the family killer; for...more...]]> 1 0 false false Thu Apr 03 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 03 14:31:32 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 03 14:41:28 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Mar 04 19:36:16 -0800 2008 Fri Jun 27 09:09:49 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 03 08:47:49 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 11 11:36:47 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 06 06:51:39 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 06 07:03:04 -0700 2007 The version I have says this book won the author the pulitzer, though it's the third in his Albany trilogy so perhaps it's ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Oct 03 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 04 12:04:41 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 12:12:10 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Aug 17 08:19:11 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 08:32:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=267243