A good novel announces itself on its opening page: whatever distinctiveness of vision and discipline of language its author can muster will be at once apparent. In "Ironweed," William Kennedy fixes his story's tone—an elegiac tone, undercut by irony—in his opening sentence and moves immediately to set up the delicate blend of realism, myth and satire that will carry his tale to its conclusion….

William Kennedy has written good fiction before, which has gone largely unnoticed. This novel, if only enough people will pay attention, should place him among the best of our current American novelists. In its refusal of sentimentality, its freshness of language and the originality with which its author approaches scenes well worn before his arrival, "Ironweed" has a sense of permanence about it.

Peter S. Prescott, "Albany's Mean Streets," in Newsweek (copyright 1983, by Newsweek. Inc.; all rights reserved; reprinted by permission). Vol...