Muhammad Abdulhadi Abdulhadi itibaren Las Cocinas, Mich., Mexico itibaren Las Cocinas, Mich., Mexico

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. I always know what's next, the mix of authors and material is varied, and I will finally get around to reading some things I know I should have gotten to long ago. Ironweed, as you may have figured out, was the 1984 winner. In it, Kennedy tells the story of a bum who was once a well liked ball-player and family man but lost everything as a result of a series of accidents and poor decisions. The novel explores the ways that humanity, wealth, comfort, religion, morality, intimacy and identity all exist relative to poverty and his characters' closeness to it, and are colored by it. This novel is tragic, humorous, gritty and hopeful at turns, but accomodates all of these contradictions gracefully, because Kennedy is incredibly adept at giving the reader a lens through which to understand each and every perspective he offers.