Very Old Bones [Hardcover]

William Kennedy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 1992

First appearing in the novel Billy Phelan's Greatest Game, and again in Ironweed--which won the Pulitzer Prize--members of the Phelan clan moveew novel. Three generations of the family are played out in ambitious and brilliant fashion, making for a sparkling literary experience.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This return to the pleasures of Kennedy's Albany cycle ( Billy Phelan's Greatest Game ; Ironweed ; etc.) is especially welcome after the comparative disappointment of Quinn's Book . The Pulitzer Prize winner is back in form with a complex but beautifully shaped saga revolving around the elderly scapegrace artist Peter Phelan's unveiling of a masterly series of paintings based on a 19th-century family tragedy. The event takes place at a rare get-together of the scattered and embittered Phelan-Quinn clan. Ancient loves are remembered, old passions rekindled and touching but never cloying reconciliations won--all seen through the eyes of Orson Purcell, Peter's bastard son, a confused writer who has fallen more than once into madness. Kennedy's crisp Irish American dialogue is a joy; his characters, particularly the sardonic Billy, the ravaged and virginal Sarah and the solid but endlessly surprising Molly, are brilliantly realized; and Orson's bursts of madness bring vivid gleams of fantasy. Bones offers the rare pleasure of a novel written with high literary skill that is a sometimes moving, often funny and always persuasive read. First serial to Playboy and Esquire; BOMC and QPB alternates.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

"The past is the present," says O'Neill's Mary Tyrone in Long Days Journey Into Night , a theory that the Pulitzer Prize-winning Kennedy adheres to. In relating "this cautionary tale of diseased self contemplation," the author uses Orson Purcell, the bastard son of artist Peter Phelan, to carry on his Roman fleuve of Albany, New York's Phelan clan. Building his tale around a family gathering in 1958, Purcell relates his own life story as well as episodes in the history of each family member, both living and dead, who struggle to overcome their collective and individual pasts to embrace a brighter future. Though not a genuine masterpiece like Ironweed ( LJ 12/1/82), this book is still moving, sometimes bleak and difficult but often humorous, much like the lives of the Phelans themselves. The Phelans can claim a place beside O'Neill's Tyrones and Steinbeck's Joads as one of the premier families of American literature who endure and, one hopes, prevail. If you think the great books are no longer being written, reading William Kennedy will change your mind. Highly recommended.
- Michael Rogers, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: The Viking Press; 1st edition (April 30, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670834572
• ISBN-13: 978-0670834570
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,194,422 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why Read Very Old Bones?, February 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Very Old Bones (Contemporary American Fiction) (Paperback)

I have read Very Old Bones and thought that the theme is true to life. Many people look at their ancestors to discover something of themselves. I found the narration interesting using Orson Purcell, the illegimate child of Peter Phelan to portray the Phelan family. I have also read Ironweed and found that some of my questions about protagonist Francis Phelan (in Ironweed) answered or more informative anyway. Enjoyed both books. I love Kennedy's style.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a fantastic book, June 19, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Very Old Bones (Contemporary American Fiction) (Paperback)

William Kennedy is one of America's best living writers. This is far away his best book. Although it shares characters and events with other books in Kennedy's 'Albany Series', its not necessary to have read any of Kennedy's previous work to enjoy Very Old Bones. Kennedy's greatest skill is in his dialogue. He allows his characters to speak for themselves, rather than mouth his own intentions. As a result, his work gives wonderful insight into one family, one city, and one point in time. Despite the fact that his most recent work, The Flaming Corsage, was a waste of paper, Kennedy will one day be the deserving winner of a Nobel Prize. After reading Very Old Bones go back and read the jury's commentary on the Nobel Prize given to John Steinbeck. Their words could just as easily been written about Kennedy. His is a fine American voice.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Maybe I'm missing something?, July 23, 2005

By 

Gwyneth Calvetti (West Salem, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Very Old Bones (Contemporary American Fiction) (Paperback)

I picked up "Very Old Bones" at a book sale, based on the back cover blurb. Having finished the book, I can't say it really had much to do with that blurb. To be fair, this is the first of Kennedy's books I've read, so perhaps there's some back story I'm missing. I found it to have rich character development, the kind that evolves as one reads about the actions of a character. Building the characters in that way is more satisfying to me as a reader than constant description and enumeration of a character. I appreciate that an author lets me figure these things out on my own. To me, the characters were the most interesting part of the read, and kept me plowing through a storyline that didn't hold my interest that much.

For one thing, at times that narrator's voice seemed to break down. I was confused on occasion, as it seemed to shift from the third person through Orson's eyes to some indeterminate character. Maybe that was my own fault, reading on a bus full of teenagers, but nonetheless it jarred my reading of the narrative.

I found the ending somewhat anti-climactic. All this buildup for this? Maybe if I re-read the book in a different setting, I'd have appreciated it more. After all, sometimes life is full of drama and struggle, and ends up to be anticlimactic. Perhaps this is the true brilliance of the book?