Nelson Algren
American writer (1909–1981) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Nelson Algren?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Nelson Algren (born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham; March 28, 1909 – May 9, 1981) was an American writer. His 1949 novel The Man with the Golden Arm won the National Book Award[2] and was adapted as the 1955 film of the same name.
Nelson Algren | |
---|---|
Born | Nelson Ahlgren Abraham (1909-03-28)March 28, 1909 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
Died | May 9, 1981(1981-05-09) (aged 72) Long Island, New York, U.S. |
Occupation | Writer |
Alma mater | University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign (BA) |
Genre | Novel, short story |
Notable awards | National Book Award 1950 |
Spouse |
|
Partner | Simone de Beauvoir (1947–1964) |
Algren articulated the world of "drunks, pimps, prostitutes, freaks, drug addicts, prize fighters, corrupt politicians, and hoodlums".[citation needed] Art Shay singled out a poem Algren wrote from the perspective of a "halfy," street slang for a legless man on wheels.[3] Shay said that Algren considered this poem to be a key to everything he had ever written.[3] The protagonist talks about "how forty wheels rolled over his legs and how he was ready to strap up and give death a wrestle."[3]
According to Harold Augenbraum, "in the late 1940s and early 1950s he was one of the best known literary writers in America."[4] The lover of French writer Simone de Beauvoir,[4] he is featured in her novel The Mandarins,[4] set in Paris and Chicago. He was called "a sort of bard of the down-and-outer"[4] based on this book, but also on his short stories in The Neon Wilderness (1947) and his novel A Walk on the Wild Side (1956). The latter was adapted as the 1962 film of the same name (directed by Edward Dmytryk, screenplay by John Fante).