Nelson Algren

Nelson Algren was an American novelist and short-story writer whose fiction portrayed working-class life, urban poverty, and marginal people, especially in Chicago.

The Man with the Golden Arm: Nelson Algren’s 1949 novel follows a Chicago card dealer struggling with heroin addiction and poverty. This National Book Award-winning novel is Algren’s best-known portrait of survival on Chicago’s margins.
Never Come Morning: Nelson Algren’s 1942 novel portrays a young Polish American boxer in Chicago’s impoverished Polish community. The novel established his close attention to neighborhood life and young people facing constrained futures.
Great Depression: The Great Depression was a global economic crisis that began in 1929 and lasted through much of the 1930s. Its unemployment and hardship formed the social backdrop of Algren’s early adult life and writing.
Simone de Beauvoir: Simone de Beauvoir was a French philosopher, writer, and feminist known for The Second Sex. De Beauvoir and Algren had a long relationship and exchanged extensive correspondence.
1950 National Book Awards: The 1950 National Book Awards ceremony recognized American books published during the preceding year. Algren’s fiction prize for The Man with the Golden Arm brought his work broad national recognition.
Chicago: Chicago is a major city in Illinois, situated on Lake Michigan. Its neighborhoods and street life provide the setting and social world of much of Algren’s fiction.
A Walk on the Wild Side: Nelson Algren’s 1956 novel follows a young man through poverty and marginal life in New Orleans. It carries his concern with outsiders beyond Chicago to another city and social setting.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a public research university in Illinois. Algren studied journalism there and graduated in 1931.
National Book Award: The National Book Awards are annual American literary prizes recognizing books published in the United States. Algren received the 1950 award for fiction for The Man with the Golden Arm.
The Man with the Golden Arm (film): The Man with the Golden Arm is a 1955 film adaptation of Algren’s novel, directed by Otto Preminger. The adaptation brought Algren’s addiction narrative to a wider audience while changing aspects of the story.

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