Nelson Algren

Also known as Nelson Ahlgren Abraham

American novelist, short story writer (1909-1981)

Person · Open Library

Born: 28 March 1909
Died: 9 May 1981
Works: 43

Top works

L'homme au bras d'or
The best American short stories 1957
Nelson Algren's own book of lonesome monsters
Somebody in boots
Never come morning

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Gender: Male
Origin: United States
Active from: 1909-03-28
Active to: 1981-05-09

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 6
Total plays: 66

via Last.fm · Nelson Algren

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

SciPy 1.0: fundamental algorithms for scientific computing in Python
· 2020 · cited 34,742x
Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome
· 2001 · cited 18,520x
A global reference for human genetic variation
· 2015 · cited 17,412x
Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
· 2020 · cited 15,393x
Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017
· 2018 · cited 10,815x

via Crossref · CC0

Quotes

“‘But blow wise to this, buddy, blow wise to this: Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own. Never let nobody talk you into shaking another man's jolt. And never you cop another man's plea. I've tried 'em all and I know. They don't work. / Life is hard by the yard, son. But you don't have to do it by the yard. By the inch it's a cinch. And money can't buy everything. For example: poverty.’”
“A writer who knows what he is doing isn't doing very much.”
“[About his legacy:] I'll be all right so long as it has been written on some corner of a human heart. On the heart, it doesn't matter how you spell it.”
“Thinking of Melville, thinking of Poe, thinking of Mark Twain and Vachel Lindsay, thinking of Jack London and Tom Wolfe, one begins to feel there is almost no way of becoming a creative writer in America without being a loser.”
“[Chicago is] the only major city in the country where you can easily buy your way out of a murder rap.”
“A man who won't demean himself for a dollar is a phoney to my way of thinking.”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Born: Nelson Ahlgren Abraham , ( 1909-03-28 ) March 28, 1909, Detroit, Michigan , U.S.
Died: May 9, 1981 (1981-05-09) (aged 72), Long Island , New York , U.S.
Occupation: Writer
Education: University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign ( BA )
Genre: Novel , short story
Notable awards: National Book Award , 1950
Spouse: Amanda Kontowicz ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1937 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1946 ) Betty Ann Jones ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1965 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1967 )
Partner: Simone de Beauvoir (1947–1964)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image: Nelson Algren NYWTS.jpg

Show 3 more facts

Commons category: Nelson Algren
date of birth: 1909-03-28
date of death: 1981-05-09

Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~27 min read

Article

Nelson Algren (born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham; March 28, 1909 – May 9, 1981) was an American writer. His 1949 novel The Man with the Golden Arm won the National Book Award and was adapted as the 1955 film of the same name.

Algren articulated the world of "drunks, pimps, prostitutes, freaks, drug addicts, prize fighters, corrupt politicians, and hoodlums". Art Shay singled out a poem Algren wrote from the perspective of a "halfy," street slang for a legless man on wheels. Shay said that Algren considered this poem to be a key to everything he had ever written. The protagonist talks about "how forty wheels rolled over his legs and how he was ready to strap up and give death a wrestle."