Nelson Algren





Nelson Algren

Author profile


born
March 28, 1909 in Michigan, The United States

died
May 09, 1981

gender
male

genre


About this author

Born of Swedish-immigrant parents, Nelson Ahlgren Abraham moved at an early age from Detroit to Chicago. At Illinois University he studied journalism. His experiences as a migrant worker during the Depression provided the material for his first novel Somebody in Boots (1935). Throughout his life Algren identified with the American underdog. From 1936 to 1940 (the highpoint of left-wing ideas on the US literary scene) he was editor of the Illinois Writers' Project. In 1942, after putting the finishing touches to his second novel, he joined the war as an enlisted man. Never Come Morning received universal acclaim, and eventually sold over a million copies.

Algren's style is a dark naturalism that passionately records the details of trapped urb...more


Average rating: 4.01 · 2,330 ratings · 245 reviews · 24 distinct works
The Man With the Golden Arm
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3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 821 ratings — published 1949 — 28 editions
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A Walk on the Wild Side
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3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 avg rating — 423 ratings — published 1956 — 18 editions
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Chicago: City on the Make
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4.18 of 5 stars 4.18 avg rating — 295 ratings — published 1951 — 6 editions
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The Neon Wilderness
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4.23 of 5 stars 4.23 avg rating — 231 ratings — published 1952 — 6 editions
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Never Come Morning
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4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 179 ratings — published 1941 — 16 editions
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Nonconformity: Writing on W...
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4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 86 ratings — published 1996 — 6 editions
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The Last Carousel
3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 48 ratings — published 1973 — 2 editions
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Somebody in Boots
3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 37 ratings — published 1935 — 2 editions
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Conversations with Nelson A...
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3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 avg rating — 28 ratings — published 1964
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The Devil's Stocking
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3.42 of 5 stars 3.42 avg rating — 24 ratings — published 1983 — 4 editions
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More books by Nelson Algren…
“Never sleep with someone whose troubles are worse than your own.”
Nelson Algren

“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.”
Nelson Algren

“... Chicago divided your heart. Leaving you loving the joint for keeps. Yet knowing it never can love you.”
Nelson Algren

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