Algren was the author of more than a dozen books. I’m betting that his two most famous novels — The Man With the Golden Arm and A Walk on the Wild Side, one a tragedy and the other a comedy — will last longer than any of the novels by Mailer, Vidal, Updike, Cheever, Kerouac, Vonnegut, Pynchon, de Lillo, Roth, Bellow, or Bukowski. Algren would have been 101 today. He was born March 28, 1909, in Detroit. In 1975, when this video was made, he left Chicago for Paterson, N.J., moved on to Hackensack and finally to Sag Harbor, N.Y., where he died May 9, 1981, and where he is buried.
Arts, Media & Culture News with 'tude
Hi Jan–I just showed a clip of the work in progress [“Algren” documentary] on Saturday night at the Algren Birthday celebration, put on by the inimitable Algren Committee. Art Shay was there, music, fun, cupcakes. Lots of fun. Best regards.