Ironweed

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the novel. For the film, see Ironweed (film). For the plant, see Vernonia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Ironweed book cover

Ironweed is a 1983 novel by William Kennedy. It received the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and is part of Kennedy's Albany Cycle. It placed at number ninety-two on the Modern Library list of the 100 Best Novels written in English in the 20th Century.

Ironweed is set during the Great Depression and tells the story of Francis Phelan, an alcoholic vagrant originally from Albany, New York, who left his family after accidentally killing his infant son while drunk. The novel focuses on Francis's return to Albany, and the narrative is complicated by the hallucinations of the three people whom he killed in the past, other than his son, Gerald, who was dropped by accident. This postmodernist novel has the elements of magic realism, the theme of misery, and metaphors, such as that Albany is Purgatory and is frequently being described as burning. A third person limited omniscient POV invades other people's minds to show their misery. The most miserable person in the book is Helen Archer, Francis Phelan's lover who has lived a life of misery. The novel features characters that return in some of Kennedy's other books.

Kennedy wrote the screenplay for the 1987 film version directed by Hector Babenco and starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. Major portions of the film were shot on location in Albany. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (for Nicholson) and Best Actress in a Leading Role (for Streep).