1983Pulitzer 1984
Ironweed
William Kennedy · b. 1928 · United States
Why it matters
A washed-up former ballplayer, haunted literally by the ghosts of men he's killed or failed, wanders Depression-era Albany seeking a kind of grace. Kennedy's Pulitzer winner turns a drunk's redemption story into something close to myth.
At a glance
magical realismpsychological novel
Difficulty 6/10medium pace227 pagesGhosts of the dead intrude on realist narration without warning or explanation.
Deep dive
Why Francis Phelan's ghosts follow him from graveyard to flophouse, and what it means that this novel about the dead won a Pulitzer for taking them seriously.
