Synopsis
Never Come Morning is unique among the novels of Nelson 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. One of the most neglected American writers and also one of the best loved, Nelson Algren wrote once that 'literature is made upon any occasion that a challenge is put to the legal apparatus by conscience in touch with humanity.' His writings always lived up to that definition. He was born in 1909 in Detroit and lived mostly in Chicago. In 1935 he published his first novel, Somebody in Boots. In early 1942, Algren put the finishing touches on a second novel and joined the war as an enlisted man. By 1945, he still had not made the grade of Private first class, but the novel, Never Come Morning, was widely praised and eventually sold over a million copies. Jean-Paul Sartre translated the French-language edition. Algren went on to write a number of novels, story collections, and travel writings including The Neon Wilderness (1947), The Man with the Golden Arm (1949), which won the first National Book Award for Fiction, the prose poem Chicago: City on the Make (1951), and A Walk on the Wild Side (1956) among others. His last novel, The Devil's Stocking, based on the life of Hurricane Carter, Nonconformity: Writing on Writing, and Entrapment and Other Writings, a collection of lost and unfinished writings were published posthumously.
About the Author
One of the most neglected American writers and also one of the best loved, NELSON ALGREN wrote once that "literature is made upon any occasion that a challenge is put to the legal apparatus by conscience in touch with humanity." His writings always lived up to that definition. He was born on March 28, 1909, in Detroit and lived mostly in Chicago. His first short fiction was published in Story magazine in 1933. In 1935 he published his first novel, Somebody in Boots. In early 1942, Algren put the finishing touches on a second novel and joined the war as an enlisted man. By 1945, he still had not made the grade of Private first class, but the novel Never Come Morning was widely praised and eventually sold over a million copies. Jean-Paul Sartre translated the French-language edition. In 1947 came The Neon Wilderness, his famous short story collection which would permanently establish his place in American letters. The Man with the Golden Arm, generally considered Algren's most important novel, appeared in 1949 and became the first winner of the National Book Award for Fiction in March 1950. Then came Chicago: City on the Make (1951), a prose poem, and A Walk on the Wild Side (1956), a rewrite of Somebody in Boots. Algren also published two travel books, Who Lost an American? and Notes from a Sea Voyage. The Last Carousel, a collection of short fiction and nonfiction, appeared in 1973. He died on May 9, 1981, within days of his appointment as a fellow of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. His last novel, The Devil's Stocking, based on the life of Hurricane Carter, and Nonconformity: Writing on Writing, a 1952 essay on the art of writing, were published posthumously in 1983 and 1996 respectively. In 2009 came Entrapment and Other Writings, a major collection of previously unpublished writings that included two early short story masterpieces, "Forgive Them, Lord," and "The Lightless Room," and the long unfinished novel fragment referenced in the book's title. In 2019, Blackstone Audio released the complete library of Algren's books as audiobooks. And in 2020 Olive Films released Nelson Algren Live, a performance film of Algren's life and work starring Willem Dafoe and Barry Gifford, among others, produced by the Seven Stories Institute.
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