description: Ironweed is the best-known of William Kennedy's three albany-based novels. 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. 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...
language: English
title: Ironweed
titlecomplete: Ironweed
characters: Francis Phelan
genres: Fiction, Historical, American, The United States Of America, Literature, Classics, Novels, Historical Fiction, 20th Century, Literary Fiction
ratings_count: 16628
places: Albany, New York, New York (State)
series: The Albany Cycle
awards: awardedAt: 441792000000
name: Pulitzer Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 441792000000
name: PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, awardedAt: 410256000000
name: National Book Critics Circle Award
category: Fiction
publisher: Media Books Audio Publishing