Profile via TMDB · Courtesy of TMDB
Nelson Algren
Sign in to saveAlso known as Nelson Ahlgren Abraham
American novelist, short story writer (1909-1981)
In the Vinony graph
Nelson Algren is indexed among the 301 entries in Vinony's National Book Award collection.
Within Vinony's link graph, Nelson Algren is referenced by 354 other articles, and connects out to Nazism, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign and The Man with the Golden Arm.
It sits within the topics 1909 births, 1981 deaths and 20th-century American Jews.
Its subject is documented across 31 Wikipedia language editions.
Film & TV
Detroit, Michigan, USA
Nelson Ahlgren Abraham was an American writer whose novels of the poor are lifted from routine naturalism by his vision of their pride, humour, and unquenchable yearnings. He also catches with poetic skill the mood of the city’s underside: its jukebox pounding, stench, and neon glare.
Known for
- Algren — Self (archive footage)2021
- Nelson Algren: The End Is Nothing, the Road Is All...2015
- The New Deal for Artists — Self1981
- Fearless Frank — Needles1969
- Goldstein — Himself1965
- The Merv Griffin Show — Self1962
- The David Susskind Show — Self1959
via TMDB
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Male
- Origin
- United States
- Active from
- 1909
- Active to
- 1981
via MusicBrainz · CC0
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
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Nelson
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Detroit
- Place of death
- New York City
- Occupation
- novelist
- Employer
- Iowa Writers' Workshop
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Award
- National Book Award
- Image
- Nelson Algren NYWTS.jpg
Show 5 more facts
- member of
- American Academy of Arts and Letters
- Commons category
- Nelson Algren
- date of birth
- 1909-03-28
- date of death
- 1981-05-09
- unmarried partner
- Simone de Beauvoir
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~27 min read
Encyclopedic overview
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."
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Nelson Algren” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.