Nelson Algren Book order

Back in print, the first novel from literary giant Nelson Algren.

Exploring the gritty underbelly of American cities and the complex social and political environments of the mid-1960s, this collection showcases Nelson Algren's keen observations and vivid storytelling. "Algren at Sea" combines his two travel writing works, offering a unique perspective on urban life and international issues during a transformative era. Through Algren's lens, readers are invited to experience the raw realities and rich narratives of the time.

Nelson Algren sought humanity in the urban wilderness of postwar America, where his powerful voice rose from behind the billboards and down tin-can alleys, from among the marginalized and ignored, the outcasts and scapegoats, the punks and junkies, the whores and down-on-their luck gamblers, the punch-drunk boxers and skid-row drunkies and kids who knew they'd never reach the age of all of them admirable in Algren’s eyes for their vitality and no-bullshit forthrightness, their insistence on living and their ability to find a laugh and a dream in the unlikeliest places.In Entrapment and Other Writings—containing his unfinished novel and previously unpublished or uncollected stories, poems, and essays—Algren speaks to our time as few of his fellow great American writers of the 1940s and ’50s do, in part because he hasn’t yet been accepted and assimilated into the American literary canon despite that he is held up as a talismanic figure. "You should not read [Algren] if you can’t take a punch," Ernest Hemingway declared. "Mr. Algren can hit with both hands and move around and he will kill you if you are not awfully careful."

The Devil’s Stocking is the story of Ruby Calhoun, a boxer accused of murder in a shadowy world of low-purse fighters, cops, con artists, and bar girls. Chronicling a battle for truth and human dignity which gives way to a larger story of life and death decisions, literary grandmaster Nelson Algren’s last novel is a fitting capstone to a long and brilliant career.

Never Come Morning is unique among the novels of Algren. The author's only romance, the novel concerns Bruno Bicek, a would-be boxer from Chicago's Northwest side, and Steffi, the woman who shares his dream while living his nightmare. "It is an unusual and brilliant book," said The New York Times. "A bold scribbling upon the wall for comfortable Americans to ponder and digest." This new edition features an introduction by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and an interview with Nelson Algren by H.E.F. Donohue.

Pour son entrée en littérature, l'auteur de L'Homme au bras d'or nous raconte la dérive dans l'Amérique de la Dépression d'un gosse du Texas. On retrouve dans ce roman l'univers des hobos que la future idole des existentialistes dépeint avec un lyrisme et une humanité qui feront dire à R-Y. Pétillon qu'" ils illustrent l'Amérique telle qu'elle devrait être, à l'encontre de ce qu'elle est devenue ". Et de citer Hemingway : " Pour le lire, il faut savoir encaisser. Algren frappe des deux mains, il a un bon jeu de jambes, et si vous n'êtes pas vigilant, il va vous démolir. "

Brieven van de Franse filosofe en schrijfster (1908-1986) aan haar Amerikaanse geliefde, de schrijver Nelson Algren (1909-1981).

Dove Findhorn is a naive country boy who busts out of Hicksville, Texas in pursuit of a better life in New Orleans. Amongst the downtrodden prostitutes, bootleggers and hustlers of the old French Quarter, Dove finds only hopelessness, crime and despair. His quest uncovers a harrowing grotesque of the American Dream.