Algren, Nelson
March 28, 1909 – May 9, 1981
Place of Birth: Detroit, MI
Biography:
Nelson Algren was born to Gerson Abraham (a garage mechanic) and Goldie (candy store owner) Algren in Detroit, MI. Algren was the youngest of three siblings and lived with his family in a poor immigrant neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. He graduated from Chicago’s public schools in 1928 and in 1931 graduated with a B.A. in journalism from the University of Illinois right during the Great Depression. He went south in hopes of working for a newspaper, and ended up with many different jobs, including being a door-to-door salesman. In 1933 he worked at a gas station in Rio Hondo, Texas and wrote his first short story, So Help Me, which was published in Story magazine. This led to a contract for his first novel, Somebody in Boots. In 1939 Algren moved back to Chicago and worked for the Chicago Board of Health and also was a co-editor for The New Anvil. He published several short stories and contributed to the W.P.A. Illinois Writer’s Project. He married Amanda Kontowicz in 1937, but the two divorced, re-married, and divorced again. His second book, Never Come Morning, was published in 1942 before Algren enlisted in the U.S. army in 1942, during WWII. During this experience he wrote several short stories for magazines such as Noble Savage and Esquire. After the war Algren published many books. His breakthrough novel, The Man with the Golden Arm, published in 1949, won the first National Book Award for fiction in 1950. It was later made into a film, starring Frank Sinatra. Algren married Betty Ann in 1965 and got divorced her two years later. He regularly wrote a column for the Chicago Free Press and taught creative writing classes at both Iowa and Florida universities, but struggled with heavy drinking and gambling. Algren liked to grapple with tough subjects, and vividly painted Chicago’s overlooked urban life with including drunks, pimps, prostitutes, and other low-life figures in his novels. He moved to Paterson, New Jersey and wrote his fourth Novel The Devil’s Stocking which was published after his death in 1983. In September of 1980 he moved to Long Island and died of a heart attack on May 9, 1981.
Selected Works:
- Somebody in Boots (1935)
- Never Come Morning (1942)
- The Man with the Golden Arm (1949)
- A Walk on the Wild Side (1956)
- Notes from a Sea Diary: Hemingway All the Way (1965)
- The Last Carousel (1973)
- The Devil’s Stocking (1983)
Awards:
- 1947 National Institute of Arts and Letters Fellowship>
- 1950 Newberry Library Fellowship
- 1950 National Book Award
- 1974 National Institute of Arts and Letters of Merit
- 1982 Fiction contest established in his name by Chicago Magazine
- 1983 P.E.N./Nelson Algren Fiction Award begun in his memory by P.E.N. American Center
Critical Reception:
Algren’s first book, Somebody in Boots, received little success during the Great Depression, selling only 750 copies. Algren had better success with The Man with the Golden Arm, winning the National Book Award for fiction in 1950, and having the book turned into a movie. His book Chicago, The City On The Make, was disapproved by the Chicago Chamber of Congress because Alger’s specialized on showing the rough side of the city instead of its successful business enterprises. Algen’s comic novel, A Walk on the Wild Side was declared a master piece.
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Algren spent most of his life outside of Michigan and was greatly influenced by his family and immigrant neighborhood in Chicago.