Nelson Algren
Born	March 28, 1909 Detroit, Michigan
Died	May 9, 1981 Long Island, New York
Occupation	American writer

Nelson Algren (March 28, 1909 - May 9, 1981) was a famous American writer. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2353x3000, 701 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Nelson Algren ... March 28 is the 87th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (88th in leap years). ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Nickname: Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (Latin for, We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes) Location in Wayne County, Michigan Coordinates: Country United States State Michigan County Wayne County Government  - Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Area  - City  143. ... May 9 is the 129th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (130th in leap years). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 28 is the 87th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (88th in leap years). ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... May 9 is the 129th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (130th in leap years). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Early life

Born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham in Detroit, Michigan, Algren moved to Chicago, Illinois, with his parents at the age of three to live in a working-class, immigrant neighborhood on the South Side. His father was the son of a Swedish convert to Judaism and a Jewish American woman, while his mother (who owned a candy store) was of German Jewish descent. When Algren was eight years old, his parents moved from 7139 S. South Park Avenue (now S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive) in the far south side neighborhood of St. Columbanus to the Albany Park neighborhood on the north side, living in an apartment at 4834 N. Troy Street while his father worked as an auto mechanic nearby on North Kedzie Avenue. Nickname: Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (Latin for, We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes) Location in Wayne County, Michigan Coordinates: Country United States State Michigan County Wayne County Government  - Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Area  - City  143. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Community areas of Chicago. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. ... A Jewish American (also commonly American Jew) is an American (a citizen of the United States) of Jewish descent who maintains a connection to the Jewish community, either through actively practicing Judaism or through cultural and historical affiliation. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination...

Algren was educated in Chicago's public schools, graduated from Hibbard High School (now Roosevelt), and went on to study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in journalism during the Great Depression in 1931. The Term public school has two distinct meanings: elementary or secondary school supported and administered by state and local officials, or, in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, a private or independent, fee-paying school, generally not coeducational, that prepares pupils for university. ... The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), is the largest campus in the University of Illinois system. ... A Bachelor of Science (B.S., B.Sc. ... Journalism is a discipline of writing. ... The Great Depression was a time of economic down turn, which started after the Stock Market Crash on October 29, 1929, also known as Black Tuesday. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ...

Career

He wrote his first story, "So Help Me," in 1933, while he was in Texas working at a gas station. Before returning home, he was caught stealing a typewriter from an abandoned classroom. For this, he spent nearly five months behind bars and faced a possible three additional years in jail. Fortunately for Algren, he was released, but the incident made a deep impression on him. It deepened his identification with outsiders, has-beens, and the general failures who later populated his fictional world. 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ...

His first novel, Somebody in Boots, was published in 1935. Never Come Morning, published in 1942, portrayed the dead-end life of a doomed young criminal. 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ...

He served as a private in the European Theater of WWII as a litter bearer. Despite being a college graduate, he was denied entry into Officer Candidate School. There is conjecture that this may have been due to suspicion regarding Algren's political beliefs. German Führer Adolf Hitler Preceding events (See also Events preceding World War II in Europe and Causes of World War II.) br Germany was in debt after World War I, due to the Great Depression and the forced payments to the victors of World War I. Germans wanted a... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

He articulated the world of "drunks, pimps, prostitutes, freaks, drug addicts, prize fighters, corrupt politicians, and hoodlums". He is probably best known for his 1950 National Book Award winning The Man With the Golden Arm. His next book, Chicago, City on the Make (1951), was a scathing essay that outraged the city's boosters but beautifully presented the back alleys of the town, its dispossessed, its corrupt politicians and its swindlers. Nonconformity, published in 1994, presents Algren's side of the debacle that was the 1956 film adaptation of "Golden Arm." Nonconformity also expresses the belief system behind Algren's writing, not to mention a call to writers everywhere to investigate the dark and represent the ignored. 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The National Book Award is one of the most important literary prizes in the United States, presented annually for the best books by living U.S. citizens published in the U.S. The awards have been presented since 1950 in at least one category, and are presently awarded in each... The Man With the Golden Arm is a novel by Nelson Algren dealing with drug addiction. ... Chicago, City on the Make is an essay by Nelson Algren published in 1951. ... Nonconformism is the refusal to conform to common standards, conventions, rules, traditions or laws. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nonconformism is the refusal to conform to common standards, conventions, rules, traditions or laws. ...

In 1975, Algren was commissioned to write a magazine article about the trial of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, the prize fighter who had been found guilty of double murder. While researching the article Algren visited Carter's hometown of Paterson, New Jersey. Algren was instantly fascinated by the city of Paterson and he immediately decided to move there. In the summer of 1975 Algren sold off most of his belongings, left Chicago, and moved into an apartment in Paterson. Rubin Hurricane Carter (born May 6, 1937), middleweight boxer from 1961 - 1966, is better known for his controversial convictions (1967, 1976) for the murder of three people at the Lafayette Grill in June, 1966, and his subsequent release from prison (1985). ... The skyline of Paterson, New Jersey, showing the canyon of the Passaic River in the foreground. ...

In 1980, Algren moved into a house on Long Island, in New York state. He died of a heart attack the following year. The article about Carter had grown into a novel, "The Devil's Stocking," which was published posthumuously, in 1983.^[1]

Personal life

Algren had a torrid affair with Simone de Beauvoir and they travelled to Latin America together in 1949. In her novel The Mandarins (1957), she wrote of Algren (who is "Lewis Brogan" in the book): La Beauvoir redirects here; also see: Beauvoir (disambiguation). ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

At first I found it amusing meeting in the flesh that classic American species: self-made leftist writer. Now, I began taking an interest in Brogan. Through his stories, you got the feeling that he claimed no rights to life and that nevertheless he had always had a passionate desire to live. I liked that mixture of modesty and eagerness.

According to Herbert Mitgang, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation did not like Algren's political views and kept a dossier on him amounting to more than 500 pages, but identified nothing concretely subversive. (Mitgang, Dangerous Dossiers: Exposing the Secret War Against America's Greatest Authors, NY: Donald I. Fine, Inc. 1988.) The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ...

It is generally accepted that Algren wrote best about his beloved Chicago. His last Chicago residence, 1958 West Evergreen Street, was a walk-up apartment on the north side of west Evergreen Street, just east of Damen Avenue, in a neighborhood that was once one of Chicago's toughest and most crowded Polish slums, but is now a gentrified, popular nightlife district.

Influences

In the 2001 documentary Classic Albums: Lou Reed: Transformer, musician Lou Reed says that Algren's 1956 novel, A Walk on the Wild Side, was the launching point for his song, "Walk on the Wild Side". The liner notes of The Tubes' 1976 album Young and Rich also credit the novel as the inspiration for their song "Pimp." Furthermore, the Minnesota based punk-rock band Dillinger Four quotes Algren as an inspiration in the song "Doublewhiskeycokenoice" by singing: "Nelson Algren came to me and said, 'Celebrate the ugly things' / The beat-up side of what they call pride could be the measure of these days". The 2002 album "Adult World" by guitarist Wayne Kramer (founding member of the Detroit band MC5) contains a song entitled "Nelson Algren Stopped By", in which guest band X-Mars-X provides a shuffling jazz background while Kramer reads a prose poem about walking the streets of present-day Chicago with Algren. Lewis Allan Lou Reed[1] (born March 2, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. ... A Walk on the Wild Side is a 1956 novel by Nelson Algren, best known today by way of a 1962 film of essentially the same name directed by Edward Dmytryk. ... Walk on the Wild Side is a Lou Reed song from his 1972 sophomore solo album Transformer. ... Released in 1976, Young and Rich was the second album released by The Tubes. ... Wayne Kramer is the guitarist for MC5. ... MC5 (short for Motor City Five) was a hard rock band formed in Detroit, Michigan, USA in 1964 and active until 1972, comprising Wayne Kramer and Fred Sonic Smith (guitars) Michael Davis (bass), Rob Tyner (vocals), and Dennis Thompson (drums). ...

In 2005 The Hold Steady mentioned Algren in the first and one of the last lines of the song "Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night" of the Separation Sunday album. The first line of the song is: "Nelson Algren came to Paddy at some party at the Dead End Alley/He told him what to celebrate" and towards the end the song goes "Hey Nelson Algren. Chicago seemed tired last nite/They had cigarettes where there were supposed to be eyes". The name Paddy in the song is a reference to Patrick Costello of the punk band Dillinger Four and the Dead End Alley is the name of the house where the band's members used to live. This line is in reference to the song "Doublewhiskeycokenoice" of the "Midwestern Songs of the Americas" album by Dillinger Four. In the song Paddy sings: "Nelson Algren came to me. and said celebrate the ugly things. the beat up side of what they call pride could be the measure of these days." Craig Finn, Guitar/Vocalist The Hold Steady are a Brooklyn-based musical group, although the members are from Minneapolis; something that is frequently reflected in the groups lyrics. ... Separation Sunday is an album released by The Hold Steady on May 3, 2005 by Frenchkiss Records. ... Dillinger Four is an influential American punk band based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. ... Midwestern Songs of the Americas is an album released by the punk rock band Dillinger Four. ...

Nelson Algren Award

Each year the Chicago Tribune newspaper gives a Nelson Algren award for short fiction. Winners are published in the newspaper and given $5,000. The award is viewed with more than a little irony by Algren admirers; the Tribune panned Algren's work in his lifetime, referring to Chicago, City on the Make as a "highly scented object." In an afterword to that book, Algren accused the Tribune of imposing false viewpoints on the city and promoting mediocrity. The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois and owned by the Tribune Company. ... Chicago, City on the Make is an essay by Nelson Algren published in 1951. ...

Studs Terkel, writer Warren Leming, and three others founded the Nelson Algren Committee in 1989. At the time all of Algren's work was out of print. All of it is now back in print. The Committee awards community activists an annual Algren award, and sponsors an Algen Birthday party. Their website: www.nelsonalgren.org contains Leming's song: Algren Street, which can be downloaded. In addition, the site contains a short film: Algren's Last Night, written by Leming and directed by Carmine Cervi.

Quotes

"It is strange how fragile this man-creature is.....in one second he's just garbage. Garbage, that's all."

"I don't recommend being a bachelor, but it helps if you want to write."

"The avocation of assessing the failures of better men can be turned into a comfortable livelihood, providing you back it up with a Ph.D."

"(Chicago is) the only major city in the country where you can easily buy your way out of a murder rap."

"Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own." From A Walk on the Wild Side (1956) A Walk on the Wild Side is a 1956 novel by Nelson Algren, best known today by way of a 1962 film of essentially the same name directed by Edward Dmytryk. ...

"Yet once you've come to be part of this particular patch, you'll never love another. Like loving a woman with a broken nose, you may well find lovelier lovelies. But never a lovely so real." From "Chicago, City on the Make" (1951) Chicago, City on the Make is an essay by Nelson Algren published in 1951. ...

Bibliography

• Somebody in Boots (1935)
• Never Come Morning (1942)
• The Neon Wilderness (1947), a collection of short stories
• The Man With the Golden Arm (1949), concerns morphine addiction
• Chicago, City on the Make (1951)
• A Walk on the Wild Side (1956)
• Nelson Algren's Own Book of Lonesome Monsters (1962)
• Who Lost an American? (1963)
• Conversations with Nelson Algren (1964)
• Notes from a Sea Diary: Hemingway All the Way (1965)
• The Last Carousel (1973)
• The Devil's Stocking (1983)
• America Eats (1992)
• He Swung and He Missed (1993)
• Nonconformity (1994)
• The Texas Stories of Nelson Algren (1994)

The Man With the Golden Arm is a novel by Nelson Algren dealing with drug addiction. ... Chicago, City on the Make is an essay by Nelson Algren published in 1951. ... A Walk on the Wild Side is a 1956 novel by Nelson Algren, best known today by way of a 1962 film of essentially the same name directed by Edward Dmytryk. ...

References

1. ^ Nelson Algren Biography, Nelson Algren Biography. November 20, 2006.

November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

External links

• The Paris Review Interview
• [1] 'Prophet of the neon wilderness', Daily Telegraph, 29 January 2006.

• Cited as The Great Illinois Novel at The Campaign for the American Reader