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The Albany Cycle #6
The Flaming Corsage
Beginning with a scandalous murder-suicide in 1908, a novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ironweed moves back and forth between the 1880s and 1912, following the lives and fates of playwright Edward Daugherty, his wife Katrina, and their lovers. 100,000 first printing. $75,000 ad/promo. Tour.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
2 people are currently reading
338 people want to read
About the author
William Kennedy
31 books253 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
William Joseph Kennedy is an American writer and journalist born and raised in Albany, New York. Many of his novels feature the interaction of members of the fictional Irish-American Phelan family, and make use of incidents of Albany's history and the supernatural.
Kennedy's works include The Ink Truck (1969), Legs (1975), Billy Phelan's Greatest Game (1978), Ironweed (1983, winner of 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; film, 1987), and Roscoe (2002).
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_...
William Joseph Kennedy is an American writer and journalist born and raised in Albany, New York. Many of his novels feature the interaction of members of the fictional Irish-American Phelan family, and make use of incidents of Albany's history and the supernatural.
Kennedy's works include The Ink Truck (1969), Legs (1975), Billy Phelan's Greatest Game (1978), Ironweed (1983, winner of 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; film, 1987), and Roscoe (2002).
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_...
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
December 17, 2012
I'm in something of a reading slump. The last two books I read were underwhelming. The one before that was ok, but had some big glaring problems that left me unsatisfied. Before that were there some good ones, but I'm reading at only a slightly maniacal pace lately, so it feels like it's been forever since I read something decent. In reality it's only been a little less than two weeks though.
The Flaming Corsage didn't help break my slump of blahs.
About a decade ago I read the first three novels in Kennedy's Albany cycle, and I liked them, not loved them, but liked them. Then I stopped reading further. Sometime, maybe around the same time I read the other novels, I found this book in the bargain section and bought it.
Should I have not skipped books four and five in the very loosely connected novels? Was I lost by breaking the order the books were written in? By waiting about ten years to go back to the novels? I don't think so. And besides some critic blurbed on the cover said this is Kennedy's finest work since he won the Pulitzer Prize. That would lead me to believe that novels four and five in the series would be inferior to the one in my hand.
A reviewer who really liked this novel and gave it five stars compared it loosely stylistically to Pynchon (as compared to his more straight-forward narrative style found in his other novels). I don't buy it, except that he does skip around in the story a bit and he does use a slight pastiche of literary forms to tell the story. But post-modernism or whatever you want to call this it is not. It's still pretty much a traditional story, told with a few literary curveballs (but by 1996 when this novel was released nothing in this novel would feel like it was out of place, even in the most straight-forward of realistic / mainstream literary fiction), but instead of feeling like they are pushing the way in which a novel can operate they feel kind of like a lazy way of filling in the narrative gaps.
It wasn't like the novel was bad, it just didn't do much for me. I never felt like I got engaged in the story, and I tried my hardest to stay interested, and even refrained from reading the description of the novel on the back cover because I thought it might give too much away about the 'mystery' in the first chapter. Trying to create an artificial suspense didn't help though.
There were some interesting things going on in the novel but the things that I found most interesting were sort of swept aside for the story that actually got told, or they were just alluded to later on and left up to me to fill in what I think was going on with a cryptic comment or two in the text. Now that I think of it the story, as it was told, could have been a good short story; and the textually subterranean aspects that I liked could have been incorporated in a better way in a longer novel that would have been satisfying, but the slap-dash manner that this 215 page novel was told in was too long for what it explicitly seemed to want to accomplish and too short to be engrossing.
Actually, the novel is a fitting tribute to the “All-American City” Albany. It's ultimately unsatisfying but with the promise that it could have been something better.
The Flaming Corsage didn't help break my slump of blahs.
About a decade ago I read the first three novels in Kennedy's Albany cycle, and I liked them, not loved them, but liked them. Then I stopped reading further. Sometime, maybe around the same time I read the other novels, I found this book in the bargain section and bought it.
Should I have not skipped books four and five in the very loosely connected novels? Was I lost by breaking the order the books were written in? By waiting about ten years to go back to the novels? I don't think so. And besides some critic blurbed on the cover said this is Kennedy's finest work since he won the Pulitzer Prize. That would lead me to believe that novels four and five in the series would be inferior to the one in my hand.
A reviewer who really liked this novel and gave it five stars compared it loosely stylistically to Pynchon (as compared to his more straight-forward narrative style found in his other novels). I don't buy it, except that he does skip around in the story a bit and he does use a slight pastiche of literary forms to tell the story. But post-modernism or whatever you want to call this it is not. It's still pretty much a traditional story, told with a few literary curveballs (but by 1996 when this novel was released nothing in this novel would feel like it was out of place, even in the most straight-forward of realistic / mainstream literary fiction), but instead of feeling like they are pushing the way in which a novel can operate they feel kind of like a lazy way of filling in the narrative gaps.
It wasn't like the novel was bad, it just didn't do much for me. I never felt like I got engaged in the story, and I tried my hardest to stay interested, and even refrained from reading the description of the novel on the back cover because I thought it might give too much away about the 'mystery' in the first chapter. Trying to create an artificial suspense didn't help though.
There were some interesting things going on in the novel but the things that I found most interesting were sort of swept aside for the story that actually got told, or they were just alluded to later on and left up to me to fill in what I think was going on with a cryptic comment or two in the text. Now that I think of it the story, as it was told, could have been a good short story; and the textually subterranean aspects that I liked could have been incorporated in a better way in a longer novel that would have been satisfying, but the slap-dash manner that this 215 page novel was told in was too long for what it explicitly seemed to want to accomplish and too short to be engrossing.
Actually, the novel is a fitting tribute to the “All-American City” Albany. It's ultimately unsatisfying but with the promise that it could have been something better.
December 17, 2023
i think aaron was right when he said this was a weird place to start with kennedy. but i liked this—the way that genre, linearity, and fiction are treated in this novel were really interesting. wish there was more of katrina—that scene where she gets her photo taken was so fascinating, i liked how straight forward this novel begins and then slowly devolves into ambiguity.
July 3, 2018
I've had this book sitting on my bookshelf for years, given to me by an old friend who was moving across the globe and cleaning the collection.
Holy Jesus Christ in flip flops this is one of the rare collection of untrackable bullshit if I ever read any.
I guess this is supposed to be some sort of literary fiction slash historical fiction that represents family, but the story is boring, the characters are boring, the way they talk is completely insufferable and also the conversations with the whores in the tents in the backyard of a bar are downright cringe-worthy.
I have no idea what the author was going with this book and I really don't need to find out either.
Holy Jesus Christ in flip flops this is one of the rare collection of untrackable bullshit if I ever read any.
I guess this is supposed to be some sort of literary fiction slash historical fiction that represents family, but the story is boring, the characters are boring, the way they talk is completely insufferable and also the conversations with the whores in the tents in the backyard of a bar are downright cringe-worthy.
I have no idea what the author was going with this book and I really don't need to find out either.
June 4, 2011
I don't know how I missed this when it came out; I only discovered it about a year ago. Clever, complex, compelling and Albany to boot.
August 28, 2013
The story was interesting but the structure made it hard to follow. The dialogue was stilted. I wouldn't read any other books by this author.
April 3, 2018
First time I tried reading William Kennedy, and I was enticed. I had read no other books in his Albany series but I was still able to easily follow this story. I liked how he weaved the tale back and forth in time from chapter to chapter and how the format changed from narrative, to play and other types of writing. Was a mesmerizing story of tragic love that I really enjoyed. I do think Kennedy's portrayal of normal women is far more shallow than his depiction of female extremes such as whores and mental cases, that was a weak point of the character development. I found the book satisfying, but was left with the feeling it could have been a much better work if he had gone a little longer and more into the idea of the "love nest" killings. Still, this is a good book and has made me want to read more of his work.
August 18, 2020
Another entry in Kennedy's Albany Cycle, telling of the love and tragedy of playwright Edward Daughtery, and his force-of-nature beloved, Katrina Taylor Daughterty.
Edward and Katrina's son, Michael, who grows up to become a newspaper man, would later appear as the narrator in Kennedy's novel, "Billy Phelan's Greatest Game".
Katrina's great love outside her marriage, Francis Phelan, is a marvel of a young man as a baseball player, and is later a decimated old man. Francis is both the father of the character Billy Phelan, and the central character in the Pulitzer Prize-winning ghost story, "Ironweed".
Like all of Kennedy's novels, the writing here is lyrical, lovely, the dialog when it is not cutting and creatively sarcastic is often very funny, the characters often tragic - but there are a few hard won victories, too.
Edward and Katrina's son, Michael, who grows up to become a newspaper man, would later appear as the narrator in Kennedy's novel, "Billy Phelan's Greatest Game".
Katrina's great love outside her marriage, Francis Phelan, is a marvel of a young man as a baseball player, and is later a decimated old man. Francis is both the father of the character Billy Phelan, and the central character in the Pulitzer Prize-winning ghost story, "Ironweed".
Like all of Kennedy's novels, the writing here is lyrical, lovely, the dialog when it is not cutting and creatively sarcastic is often very funny, the characters often tragic - but there are a few hard won victories, too.
December 9, 2017
As a first classic for me, i found this book to have fancy words and its writing was a bit complex as compared to the non-classics. But thats how classics are meant to be.
Set in the late 19th century, the book describes the life of people living in those days and how the life of this man 'Edward' flips from a happily ever after into a complete tragedy. The story talks about love, betrayal, loyalty, infidelity, friendship and many more.
I would suggest this book for those who want to improve their english and would want to read any other classic.
Set in the late 19th century, the book describes the life of people living in those days and how the life of this man 'Edward' flips from a happily ever after into a complete tragedy. The story talks about love, betrayal, loyalty, infidelity, friendship and many more.
I would suggest this book for those who want to improve their english and would want to read any other classic.
May 12, 2023
Another book in the author's Albany series. This follows the romance of Catholic Edward Daugherty, a first generation Irish American playwright, and Protestant Katrina Taylor, a beautiful and rich woman who defies convention and marries him. However, a fire will change their lives and Edward will be ensnared in the Love Nest Shootings of 1908. Love, jealosy and betrayal engulf the lovers as the book hurtles toward its surprising climax.
Read
July 22, 2019"With his left hand he pulled the burning stick from her breast and hugged her to his chest to quench the flaming corsage."
The book, which spans the period from the 1880s to 1912, concerns a tragic couple: Edward Daugherty, a brilliant playwright, and his equally headstrong wife, Katrina, whose lives are shaped by a 1908 murder-suicide in a Manhattan hotel room.The marriage of Edward, a brilliant writer from an Irish working class family, to the aristocratic Katrina demonstrates how a dark past can overwhelm even the most promising future.
The book, which spans the period from the 1880s to 1912, concerns a tragic couple: Edward Daugherty, a brilliant playwright, and his equally headstrong wife, Katrina, whose lives are shaped by a 1908 murder-suicide in a Manhattan hotel room.The marriage of Edward, a brilliant writer from an Irish working class family, to the aristocratic Katrina demonstrates how a dark past can overwhelm even the most promising future.
April 19, 2021
Just not necessarily my favorite style, but not a bad book
July 23, 2023
stičem utisak da je ovu knjigu napisao čovek od 60 godina koga je žena ostavila pa je sve svoje frustracije stavio na papir (da se ogradim, ne znam ništa o piščevoj biografiji). Stil pisanja 0
August 21, 2025
This volume in the series seemed disjointed and random.The story didn't flow as Kennedy's other novels do. Hence three stars.
.
.
January 23, 2016
"Katrina always thought of Archie when she remembered what Henry James had told Edward and her during their luncheon in New York in 1903. When he thought of Albany, Henry said, he remembered his father's stories about his own contemporaries, all of them men with great promise and romantic charm, all of them, in his father's eyes, eventually ending badly, as badly as possible." (from The Flaming Corsage, William Kennedy)
I have intended to read William Kennedy's work for a long time. I now regret having waited so long. His Albany cycle as a whole is considered among the great works in American fiction. Ironweed won the 1984 Pulitzer Prize (and is next on my list.)
The Flaming Corsage, except for the brief but pivotal central event, is set in Albany between 1884 and 1912. Kennedy's technique is fascinating. Echoing the early movie era, chapters of greatly varying lengths are presented almost as silent film segments in a sort of disjointed narrative reminiscent of those jump cuts between scenes in those films (the difference, of course, is the presence of dialogue.) Many central events and developments in the characters’ lives are thus left out and only alluded to later, for instance, the birth and childhood of a son, the stages in the central character's career, etc.) This is an interesting approach, and allows for a focusing on the major themes in the book.
Much is conveyed not exactly through interior monologue, but what I might call "interior narrative", a voice reflecting the characters' thoughts, but in the second person .
"Maginn talks about you, of course. He plots to destroy you...And you, Edward, the true target, you couldn't see that; you and Maginn, such great friends, brothers of the ink stain, comrades of the imagination. Gainsaying fool is what you were. Now here you stand, believing you can goad evil into explaining itself, wondering what the whore of justice looks like, wallowing in your pathetic desire to mean."
This technique can tend toward melodrama, but it rises far above that, and the book is a rich and fascinating whole.
I think the dust jacket blurb from Harold Bloom regarding The Flaming Corsage is particularly apt.
"At once prose-poem, historical novel, and theatrical melodrama, Kennedy's new book demonstrates an aesthetic exuberance beyond his previous work. Katrina Taylor is Kennedy's most memorable character, nuanced and doom-eager, certain to haunt the sensitive reader."
I have intended to read William Kennedy's work for a long time. I now regret having waited so long. His Albany cycle as a whole is considered among the great works in American fiction. Ironweed won the 1984 Pulitzer Prize (and is next on my list.)
The Flaming Corsage, except for the brief but pivotal central event, is set in Albany between 1884 and 1912. Kennedy's technique is fascinating. Echoing the early movie era, chapters of greatly varying lengths are presented almost as silent film segments in a sort of disjointed narrative reminiscent of those jump cuts between scenes in those films (the difference, of course, is the presence of dialogue.) Many central events and developments in the characters’ lives are thus left out and only alluded to later, for instance, the birth and childhood of a son, the stages in the central character's career, etc.) This is an interesting approach, and allows for a focusing on the major themes in the book.
Much is conveyed not exactly through interior monologue, but what I might call "interior narrative", a voice reflecting the characters' thoughts, but in the second person .
"Maginn talks about you, of course. He plots to destroy you...And you, Edward, the true target, you couldn't see that; you and Maginn, such great friends, brothers of the ink stain, comrades of the imagination. Gainsaying fool is what you were. Now here you stand, believing you can goad evil into explaining itself, wondering what the whore of justice looks like, wallowing in your pathetic desire to mean."
This technique can tend toward melodrama, but it rises far above that, and the book is a rich and fascinating whole.
I think the dust jacket blurb from Harold Bloom regarding The Flaming Corsage is particularly apt.
"At once prose-poem, historical novel, and theatrical melodrama, Kennedy's new book demonstrates an aesthetic exuberance beyond his previous work. Katrina Taylor is Kennedy's most memorable character, nuanced and doom-eager, certain to haunt the sensitive reader."
March 2, 2013
This is a novel set in late 19th and early 20th century in Albany NY. Essentially it is about relationships. The focus is on a friendship destroyed by jealousy and a marriage destroyed by melancholia and guilt.
There is some interesting description and insight into class issues of the time and a poignant monologue about the British cruelty in Ireland.
I found the book difficult in some ways. The author switches back and forth in time, and the imposition of thoughts onto the characters can sometimes be confused with dialogue. Nonetheless, i found it intriguing enough to finish.
Could be recommended for those who enjoy period pieces.
There is some interesting description and insight into class issues of the time and a poignant monologue about the British cruelty in Ireland.
I found the book difficult in some ways. The author switches back and forth in time, and the imposition of thoughts onto the characters can sometimes be confused with dialogue. Nonetheless, i found it intriguing enough to finish.
Could be recommended for those who enjoy period pieces.
October 1, 2015
The main thing that I liked about this book is the thing that I like about nearly all of Kennedy's novels. In other words, a William Kennedy novel is a time and place -- and that place is, most specifically, Albany, NY. Kennedy is masterful about drawing readers in to his beloved city, and his flawed characters. When I read a Kennedy novel, I breathe Albany air.
"The Flaming Corsage" is a fairly simple story about starcrossed lovers who marry and end up in a bad marriage. Throw in deception, a few murders, jealousy, and flat out evil characters, and a non-linear story, and Kennedy leaves you feeling sympathy for his coterie of 1890s city dwellers.
"The Flaming Corsage" is a fairly simple story about starcrossed lovers who marry and end up in a bad marriage. Throw in deception, a few murders, jealousy, and flat out evil characters, and a non-linear story, and Kennedy leaves you feeling sympathy for his coterie of 1890s city dwellers.
December 22, 2020
I got this book in a mystery bag so it's not something I would normally pick up. The final scene confused me and overall I'm not really sure what the message was supposed to be. The disconnected flow sometimes had me lost because I couldn't remember when a previous incident happened or who the characters involved were. But there were passages that I thought were really unique and evocative of distinct feelings and/or were incisive observations of class dynamics. That's what gives it 3 stars for me. But the plot itself was...interesting. My brain can't come up with any other way to describe my thoughts right now lol.
Read
August 7, 2011William Kennedy's novels about Albany,NY are a fascinating study of people, from the wealthy poltroons to the new immigrant Irish riff raff. Edward Daugherty, child of Irish immigrants, marries the daughter of wealthy upper crust Protestants. Her mental decline after the death of her father and sister as a result of a fire set in motion a tragedy set in turn of the century Albany.
February 23, 2008
I approached this book with enthusiasm - I enjoy books with a strong sense of place and history and I have relatives living in Albany so have a tiny knowledge of Albany today. About all I can say about my reaction the actual book is that I did finish reading it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 19, 2013
I picked up this book which was laying around in our gite in Mazamet, France. I had never heard of the author. What a pleasant surprise. Written in old-fashioned style, the book is possessed of wonderful characters. The dialogue is also unique to the times.
January 23, 2016
A few of the literary references I did not get. But the book is very well-written, to the point I wish the ending would have been a happier one. I do not read fiction set that far back very often, and found the descritptions here pleasing.
February 24, 2016
This book is set at the turn of the twentieth century, and if you told me it was written then, too, instead of literally a century later, I would have believed you. The writing was stylized in a way that seems remote and detached, and I have a hard time engaging that way.
June 1, 2024
A library find.
I'm sorry. I couldn't get passed the first few pages.
It was to much for me. The two stars was for the author actually having written something. No thanks.
Nope!
Second try at reading.
February 2024.
Nope. Still can't.Sorry.
I'm sorry. I couldn't get passed the first few pages.
It was to much for me. The two stars was for the author actually having written something. No thanks.
Nope!
Second try at reading.
February 2024.
Nope. Still can't.Sorry.
January 5, 2009
Slow to start out with,but once you got over the first few pages, it grasped your interest and didn't let it go.
August 2, 2009
see previous comments on Kennedy.
December 30, 2009
I have not always found his prose very engaging, but did enjoy this book. It is a whodunit of sorts, with an original and interesting format.
February 7, 2011
After a strange and slow start, things get interesting.
August 26, 2011
I remember reading this author in 1978 or so and thinking how much I liked his writing so I am going back over a few of his books to see if I was right. I loved this book!
Want to read
July 10, 2017"With his left hand he pulled the burning stick from her breast and hugged her to his chest to quench the flaming corsage." The marriage of Edward, a brilliant writer from an Irish working class family, to the aristocratic Katrina demonstrates how a dark past can overwhelm even the most promising future.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews