The Lost Weekend is a novel by Charles R. Jackson that was published by Farrar & Rinehart in 1944. It was produced as a motion picture in 1945, directed by Billy Wilder and starring Ray Milland as the protagonist, Don Birnam. Charles R. Jackson (born 1902—died 1968) is an American author, best known for his 1944 novel, The Lost Weekend. ... Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was a screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. ... Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend Ray Milland (January 3, 1905 – March 10, 1986) was a successful Welsh actor and director who worked primarily in the United States. ...

The novel, set in a rundown neighborhood of Manhattan during the early 1930s, broke various taboos for its time by exploring a five-day alcoholic binge. The Borough of Manhattan, highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ...

The book was a best seller and received rave reviews. Philip Wylie wrote in the New York Times Book Review that "Charles Jackson has made the most compelling gift to the literature of addiction since De Quincey. His character is a masterpiece of psychological precision." Philip Gordon Wylie (May 12, 1902 - October 25, 1971) was a U.S. author and writer. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

Although the movie adaptation hews closely to the novel, the novel differed in one crucial respect: Birnam is described in the novel as being tormented by a homosexual incident in college. That is omitted from the film.