Nelson Algren, The Man with the Golden Arm

William J. Savage (Northwestern University)

Ed. by Emory Elliott, University of California, Riverside
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1949

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Nelson Algren's fourth book and third novel,

The Man with the Golden Arm

, was published by Doubleday in 1949; it won the first National Book Award in 1950, and its critical and popular success represented the zenith of Algren's career. It was adapted for a well-received Broadway drama, as well as perhaps the worst film version of a novel ever made. Seven Stories Press issued a

50th Anniversary Critical Edition

of the novel, the first critical edition of any work by Algren, in 1999.

In The Man with the Golden Arm, Algren tells the story of Frankie Machine, his wife Sophie, his friend Sparrow, his lover Molly, his nemesis Police Captain Record Head Bednar, and other denizens of Chicago's Near Northwest Side, then a Polish-American ghetto. Frankie's lone skill is his steady hand, which

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1388 words

Citation: Savage, William J.. "The Man with the Golden Arm". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 July 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=237, accessed 24 April 2024.]

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