Nathanael West (1903–1940)
Autore di Miss Lonelyhearts & The Day of the Locust
Sull'Autore
American novelist Nathanael West was born in New York City, the son of a prosperous building contractor. He began his college education at Tufts University but transferred to Brown University, from which he graduated in 1924. After graduation, West went to Europe and lived in Paris for a few years, mostra altro where he wrote the short novel The Dream Life of Balso Snell (1931), an avant--garde work that reflected his concern with the emptiness of contemporary life. West's modest legacy of completed works reached its peak of recognition during the period when later Jewish American writers were discovering black humor. Among novels that chronicle the wasteland despair and grotesque comedy of the time between the wars, West's Miss Lonelyhearts (1933) and The Day of the Locust (1939) stand out as remarkable examples. The first is about a young man conducting a column of advice to the lovelorn who finds it increasingly impossible not to share the problems of his readers. The Day of the Locust story about a riot that ends with the burning of Los Angeles. If Franz Kafka (see Vol. 2) had lived to come to the United States and become a screenwriter, he might have written a book like The Day of the Locust, which Malcolm Cowley called the best novel ever written about Hollywood. West's other short novel, A Cool Million (1934), is, like The Dream Life of Balso Snell, an experimental work that offers variations on the theme of reality and illusion; both works look toward a literature of the absurd and deserve their place in literary history as influences on a school of American writers that came into prominence during the 1960s. West's own life had aspects of tragic absurdity. He was married to Eileen McKenney, the original of the central figure in My Sister Eileen, while his own sister became the wife of humorist S. J. Perelman. After writing Miss Lonelyhearts, West and his wife went to Hollywood and remained there until they were both killed in a car accident in 1940. (Bowker Author Biography) mostra meno
Fonte dell'immagine: http://www.davidlavery.net/barfield/
Opere di Nathanael West
Opere correlate
Etichette
Informazioni generali
- Nome canonico
- West, Nathanael
- Nome legale
- Weinstein, Nathan
- Altri nomi
- von Wallenstein Weinstein, Nathan
- Data di nascita
- 1903-10-17
- Data di morte
- 1940-12-22
- Luogo di sepoltura
- Mount Zion Cemetery, Maspeth, Queens County, New York, USA
- Sesso
- male
- Nazionalità
- USA
- Luogo di nascita
- New York, New York, USA
- Luogo di morte
- El Centro, California, USA
- Causa della morte
- car accident
- Luogo di residenza
- North Hollywood, California, USA
- Istruzione
- Tufts University
Brown University (PhB ∙ 1924) - Attività lavorative
- novelist
playwright
screenwriter
short-story writer
poet
essayist (mostra tutto 7)
hotel manager - Relazioni
- Perelman, S. J. (brother-in-law)
Perelman, Laura (sister)
McKenney, Eileen (wife)
McKenney, Ruth (sister-in-law) - Organizzazioni
- League of American Writers
Screen Writers Guild
Motion Picture Guild
Motion Picture Artists Committee
Motion Picture Democratic Committee
Hollywood Anti-Nazi League (mostra tutto 10)
Columbia Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures
Republic Pictures
Universal Studios - Breve biografia
- Nathan Wallenstein Weinstein was the child of German-speaking Russian-Jewish parents living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He dropped out of high school and gained admission to college by falsifying his high school transcript. In 1931, West published his first work, The Dream Life of Balso Snell. In 1933, he got contract as a scriptwriter for Columbia Pictures and moved to Hollywood. He and his wife were both killed in a car accident in 1940.
Utenti
Recensioni
Liste
Favourite Books (1)
Five star books (1)
Antiheroes (1)
Read These Too (1)
Premi e riconoscimenti
Potrebbero anche piacerti
Autori correlati
Statistiche
- Opere
- 20
- Opere correlate
- 3
- Utenti
- 6,246
- Popolarità
- #3,925
- Voto
- 3.7
- Recensioni
- 150
- ISBN
- 151
- Lingue
- 13
- Preferito da
- 28