Nelson Algren





Nelson Algren

Author profile


born
in Michigan, The United States
March 28, 1909

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: 4.02 · 3,357 ratings · 321 reviews · 22 distinct works · Similar authors
The Man With the Golden Arm
by
3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 1,156 ratings — published 1949 — 35 editions
A Walk on the Wild Side
by
3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 avg rating — 584 ratings — published 1956 — 21 editions
Chicago: City on the Make
by
4.18 of 5 stars 4.18 avg rating — 408 ratings — published 1951 — 7 editions
The Neon Wilderness
by
4.24 of 5 stars 4.24 avg rating — 327 ratings — published 1952 — 6 editions
Never Come Morning
by
4.14 of 5 stars 4.14 avg rating — 250 ratings — published 1941 — 18 editions
Nonconformity: Writing on W...
by
4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 124 ratings — published 1996 — 6 editions
The Last Carousel
3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 avg rating — 57 ratings — published 1973 — 2 editions
Somebody in Boots
3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 avg rating — 53 ratings — published 1935 — 2 editions
The Devil's Stocking
by
3.57 of 5 stars 3.57 avg rating — 37 ratings — published 1983 — 3 editions
Notes from a Sea Diary & Wh...
3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 avg rating — 30 ratings — published 2008 — 3 editions
More books by Nelson Algren…
“Never sleep with someone whose troubles are worse than your own.”
Nelson Algren, A Walk on the Wild Side

“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: City on the Make

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

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