They spend most of their time trying to find shelter, money, and drink. It does make you think, and in some ways it good to see life from way over the other side of the tracks, to think that these people are all What an ordeal.
But that dear friend is the beauty of fiction.Francis Phelan has gone back home!
Francis lives violently.
The best he can do is hope that they are like himself." The fiction that I’ve been randomly pulling off my shelves has been really good to me this year.I made a decision a few weeks ago that I would read all the Pulitzer Prize winners for fiction, beginning in the year I was born (1984) and continuing through the present. On top of that, he was charged with negligent homicide. He tells this tale, the 3rd in the Albany series that I’ve read in the last 3 years, with intricate detail about the history, people and physical geography of a time and place. Not so the character of Francis Phelan, who returns to Albany New York in 1937 after 22 years bumming on the road. The same son who slipped through Francis' fingers years ago. This was a selection for my book club. But does he forgive himself for the accident that killed his infant son?
Comedic, but in a wincing way (sometimes). He's exchanged all of that for a life of poverty, cold, hunger, and loneliness. Please try againSorry, we failed to record your vote.
Annie thanks him for that. There he meets up with his companion of many years, Helen, another alcoholic drifter. The quality of the writing is undoubtedly Pulitzer worthy, theres no denying that.
"Francis Phelan is one of those characters in literature that you really should dislike but you can't help feeling sympathy and compassion for him and his plight. We’d love your help. It is a very sad story as well, with portions of poignancy that make you want to grab Francis and tell him that his family is forgiving him.
Home! Give me a bit of escapism any day over a gritty dirge of a book, depsite its literary merits. Almost. Please try again Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. At 225 pages (a short 225 pages at that, with large type), this Pulitzer Prize winner can best be classified as a novella. Customers who viewed this item also viewed. He had a son with her whom he left behind. He ran away again after accidentally -- and fatally -- dropping his infant son.Francis Phelan, ex-ballplayer, part-time gravedigger, full-time drunk, has hit bottom. He picks up odd jobs as a gravedigger and rag man's assistant. Six feet below, the child stirs and decides that Francis' path to redemption and self forgiveness is about to begin. Certain elements of the story, particularly the wrap up, are a little pat but it is still a must read. Francis calls himself a bum, though When I was a kid, I used to see the ironweed blooming along the creeks and edges of fields. I think i must be somewhat of a snob however, I just dont enjoy reading about down and outs and people at the end of the road, with no light at the end of the tunnel. I do remember actually laying in bed at night and crying during several passages, though, and thinking that it was one of the best things that I had read in a long time. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.This shopping feature will continue to load items when the Enter key is pressed. Where are the muck and the mud and the beauty? “A kiss is an expensive way of life, as is a smile, or a scarred hand.” –Whew! Solid thumbs up. He was found sometime later, not too far from the truck, frozen to death. Arrived in good time also good quality book very pleased. Pleasant it was not though and i found myself skimming and desperately wanting it to end despite the mere 224pp so I could get onto something a bit cheerier. All of his money goes to booze. What an ordeal. "Go to heaven for the climate, hell for the company. But Francis' past is always calling.
There were some really beautiful lines here and there. Evocative imagery, poetic language, and a charming main character are the highlights of this Pulitzer winner. But William Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a down-and-out ex-baseball player, Francis, who sees dead people and is dedicated to his own pain and a life spent running from it, and his cadre of drunks, including his girl Helen, a former musician, is so finely and freely well-written, sometimes funny, and authentic that I read it slowly with pleasure as well as pain. I may feel differently about this book later, but as of today I can give it three stars. I really enjoyed Billy Phelan's Greatest Game and I read The Red Corsage earlier this year.Anyone who loved the writing in "A River Runs Through It"I don’t particularly like being around drunks, nor do I enjoy reading about them. THIS WAS A FASCINATING LOOK AT DEPRESSION ERA ALBANY - THE CHARACTERS THAT DWELLED THERE. Whose business is that? He has received numerous literary awards, including the Literary Lions Award from the New York Public Library, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and a Governor’s Arts Award.
His old friends. A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain: Stories . Bumbling fools, and livers of what many would describe as a wasted life.