The Neon Wilderness

1947 short story collection by Nelson Algren From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Neon Wilderness (1947) is the first short-story collection by American writer Nelson Algren. Two of its stories[1] had received an O. Henry Award. Algren received an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters[2] the same year.

AuthorNelson Algren
LanguageEnglish
GenreShort stories: tragi-comedy, satire
PublisherDoubleday & Co.
Quick facts Author, Language ...
The Neon Wilderness
First edition
AuthorNelson Algren
LanguageEnglish
GenreShort stories: tragi-comedy, satire
PublisherDoubleday & Co.
Publication date
1947
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages286 (1st ed.)
OCLC1117160
813.52
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Overview

The book collects 24 stories: 8 previously published (from 1933 to 1947)[3][4] and 16 new. Most of them are set in then-contemporary Chicago (1930s and 1940s), in the so-called "Polish-American ghetto". They revolve around the lower classes: workers and unemployed, drunkards and gamblers, prostitutes and hustlers, small-businessmen and policemen. Unlike Dickens or Zola, their general tone is tragi-comedy or sympathetic satire.

Two stories had received an O. Henry Award (and been reprinted in the related annual volume): Algren's second-published story "The Brothers' House"[1] (1935 award) and "A Bottle of Milk for Mother (Biceps)"[1] (1941 award). Two had been selected for The Best American Short Stories: "A Bottle of Milk for Mother"[4] (as "Biceps",[5] 1942 volume) and "How the Devil Came Down Division Street"[4] (1945 volume). The year the collection was released, Algren received an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a grant from Chicago's Newberry Library.[2]

Contents

The collection contains the following 24 stories (with first appearance for the 8 previously published).

  1. "The Captain Has Bad Dreams"
  2. "How the Devil Came Down Division Street" (1944, Harper's Bazaar)[6]
  3. "Is Your Name Joe?"
  4. "Depend on Aunt Elly"
  5. "Stickman's Laughter" (1942, The Southern Review)[4]
  6. "A Bottle of Milk for Mother" (1941, as "Biceps",[5] The Southern Review)[4]
  7. "He Couldn't Boogie-Woogie Worth a Damn"
  8. "A Lot You Got to Holler"
  9. "Poor Man's Pennies"
  10. "The Face on the Barroom Floor" (1947,[n. 1] The American Mercury)[4]
  11. "The Brothers' House" (1934, Story magazine)[4]
  12. "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone"
  13. "He Swung and He Missed" (1942, The American Mercury)[4]
  14. "El Presidente de Méjico"
  15. "Kingdom City to Cairo"
  16. "That's the Way It's Always Been"
  17. "The Children" (1943, The American Mercury)[4]
  18. "Million-Dollar Brainstorm"
  19. "Pero Vencermos"
  20. "No Man's Laughter"
  21. "Katz"
  22. "Design for Departure"
  23. "The Heroes"
  24. "So Help Me" (1933, Story magazine)[4]

Notes

  1. [1]
    That first appearance was as "The Face on the Barroom Floor, or Too Much Salt on the Pretzels". (See Contento reference.)

References

External links

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