Understanding Nelson Algren

Brooke Horvath surveys the literary contributions of a writer known as the voice of America’s dispossessed. Horvath offers an introduction to the life and work of the Chicagoan who wrote about the underclass in the Windy City and beyond, bringing to the fore their humanity and aspirations. Examining Algren’s eleven major works, Horvath sets Algren’s evolution as a writer against the backdrop of the nation’s shifting social, political, and economic landscape.