Nelson Algren
From Illinois Authors
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[edit] General Information
Pen Name: None
Genre: Fiction, Non-Fiction & Poetry
Born: March 28, 1909 in Detroit, Michigan
Died: May 9, 1981 in Long Island, New York
For Additional Information Contact:
The Algren Committee
2418 W. Bloomingdale, #203
Chicago, IL 60647
Image Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Collection of the New York World-Telegram and the Sun.
[edit] Celebrated on the Illinois State Library Gwendolyn Brooks Building
"I do know that when you have a book underway and are working well that you feel much better about your own relationship to the world, and the way to feel good all the time is to always have a good book going." - Nelson Algren, Conversations with Nelson Algren
[edit] Illinois Connection
- Lived and worked in Chicago between 1939 and 1970.
[edit] Biographical and Professional Information
Nelson Algren was a novelist ans short story writer who was once called the "Poet of the Chicago Slums." He combined subjects drawn from street life with an eloquent, poetic style in a series of novels ans short stories, many of which were in Chicago's Polish communities.
His early books include Somebody in Boots (1935), Never Come Morning (1942) and the short-story collection, The Neon Wilderness (1947). The Man with a Golden Arm (1949) was a great popular success and became a successful Hollywood film starring Frank Sinatra in 1956. A Walk on the Wild Side (1956) was also filmed in 1962. Algren also wrote the prose poem Chicago: City on the Make (1951).
[edit] Published Works
- Somebody in Boots, Vanguard, 1935
- Never Come Morning, Harper, 1942
- The Neon Wilderness, Doubleday, 1947
- The Man with the Golden Arm, Doubleday, 1949
- Chicago, City on the Make, Doubleday, 1951
- A Walk on the Wild Side, Farrar Strauss, 1956
- Nelson Algren's Own Book of Lonesome Monsters, Lancer Books, 1962
- Notes from a Sea Diary-Hemingway All the Way, Putnam, 1965
- Who Lost an American, Macmillan, 1963
- The Last Carousel, Putnam, 1973
- The Devil's Stockings, Arbor House Library of Contemporary Americana, 1983
- America Eats, University of Iowa Press, 2000
- Nonconformity: Writings on Writing, Seven Stories Press, 1994
- The Texas Stories of Nelson Algren, University of Texas Press,
[edit] Titles for Purchase and at Your Library
Somebody in Boots: A Novel (Classic Reprint Series)ISBN: 0938410407 Release Date: 1987-04 |
 | Never Come MorningISBN: 1583222790 Release Date: 2001-11-09 |
Neon WildernessISBN: 0844610143 Release Date: 1968-06 |
 | The Man with the Golden Arm: 50th anniversary critical editionISBN: 1583220089 Release Date: 1999-04-01 |
Chicago, City on the MakeISBN: 0070010129 Release Date: 1983-01 |
 | A Walk on the Wild Side: A NovelISBN: 0374525323 Release Date: 1998-06-24 |
Own Book of Lonesome MonstersISBN: B000JNK4MW Release Date: 1963 |
 | The Last CarouselISBN: 1888363452 Release Date: 2003-07-01 |
 | The Devil's StockingISBN: 1583226990 Release Date: 2006-01-01 |
America Eats (Iowa Szathmary Culinary Arts Series)ISBN: 0877453616 Release Date: 1992-05 |
 | NonconformityISBN: 1888363053 Release Date: 2003-07-01 |
 | The Texas Stories of Nelson AlgrenISBN: 0292704682 Release Date: 1995-11 |
[edit] Literary Awards
In 1990, his name was engraved on the frieze of the Illinois State Library alongside other great Illinois literary figures.
1950 National Book Award Winner for Fiction - The Man With the Golden Arm
1957 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction - Walk on the Wild Side
[edit] External Links
[edit] Editing
This page can only be edited by Illinois Center for the Book staff, this author or this author's representatives. Please contact us for access.
Categories: Authors | Last Name A | Fiction | Non-Fiction | Poetry | Adult
