Nathanael West

Author profile

born

in New York City, The United States

October 17, 1903

died

December 22, 1940

gender

male

genre

Literature & Fiction, Novellas

About this author

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Born Nathanael von Wallenstein Weinstein to prosperous Jewish parents; from the first West set about creating his own legend, and anglicising his name was part of that process. At Brown University in New York, he befriended writer and humourist S. J. Perelman (who later married his sister), and started writing and drawing cartoons. As his cousin Nathan Wallenstein also attended Brown, West took to borrowing his work and presenting it as his own. He almost didn't graduate at all, on account of failing a crucial course in modern drama. West indulged in a little dramatics of his own and, in tearful contrition, convinced a gullible professor to upgrade his marks.

After spending a couple of years in Paris, where he wrote his first novel, The Drea...more

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Nathanael West's Books

Average rating: 3.84 · 15,041 ratings · 867 reviews · 20 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Day of the Locust 3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 avg rating — 7,905 ratings — published 1939 — 36 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Miss Lonelyhearts & The Day of the Locust 3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 4,533 ratings — published 1939 — 12 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Miss Lonelyhearts and A Cool Million, or, the dismantling of Lemuel Pitkin 3.77 of 5 stars 3.77 avg rating — 1,167 ratings — published 1933 — 8 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Miss Lonelyhearts 3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 avg rating — 437 ratings — published 1933 — 28 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Cool Million and The Dream Life of Balso Snell: Two Novels 3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 293 ratings — published 1931 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Novels and Other Writings : The Dream Life of Balso Snell / Miss Lonelyhearts / A Cool Million / The Day of the Locust / Letters (Library of America #93) by Nathanael West, Sacvan Bercovitch (Editor) 4.25 of 5 stars 4.25 avg rating — 213 ratings — published 1957 — 11 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Cool Million 3.64 of 5 stars 3.64 avg rating — 191 ratings — published 1934 — 9 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dream Life of Balso Snell 3.35 of 5 stars 3.35 avg rating — 144 ratings — published 1931 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Day of the Locust; The Dream Life of Balso Snell 3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 avg rating — 79 ratings — published 2007 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Miss Lonelyhearts 3.0 of 5 stars 3.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1955	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Nathanael West…

Quotes by Nathanael West

“He read it for the same reason an animal tears at a wounded foot: to hurt the pain.”
― Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts & The Day of the Locust

22 people liked it

“He smoked a cigarette, standing in the dark and listening to her undress. She made sea sounds; something flapped like a sail; there was the creak of ropes; then he heard the wave-against-a-wharf smack of rubber on flesh. Her call for him to hurry was a sea-moan, and when he lay beside her, she heaved, tidal, moon-driven.”
― Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts & The Day of the Locust

21 people liked it

“At college, and perhaps for a year afterwards, they had believed in literature, had believed in Beauty and in personal expression as an absolute end. When they lost this belief, they lost everything.”
― Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts and A Cool Million, or, the dismantling of Lemuel Pitkin

12 people liked it

See all Nathanael West's quotes »

Polls

What fiction book would you like to read for November?

The Green Hat by Michael Arlen

4 votes, 36.4%

Maurice by E.M. Forster

3 votes, 27.3%

The Big Sleep and Other Novels by Raymond Chandler

2 votes, 18.2%

Looking for the King: An Inklings Novel by David C. Downing

1 vote, 9.1%

Miss Lonelyhearts & The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West

1 vote, 9.1%

11 total votes

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