The neon wilderness / Nelson Algren ; introductions by Colin Asher and Tom Carson ; afterword by Studs Terkel ; The 1955 Paris Review interview with Nelson Algren by Alston Anderson and Terry Southern.
Introduction to the 2023 edition: The true jungle, The neon wilderness / by Colin Asher -- Introduction to the 1986 edition / by Tom Carson -- The captain has bad dreams -- How the devil came down Division Street -- Is your name Joe? -- Depend on Aunt Elly -- Stickman's laughter -- A bottle of milk for mother -- He couldn't boogie-woogie worth a damn -- A lot you got to holler -- Poor man's pennies -- The face on the barroom floor -- The brothers' house -- Please don't talk about me when I'm gone -- He swung and he missed - El Presidente de M�ejico -- Kingdom City to Cairo -- That's the way it's always been -- The children -- Million-dollar brainstorm -- Pero Venceremos -- No man's laughter -- Katz -- Design for departure -- The heroes -- So help me -- Afterword / by Studs Terkel -- The 1955 Paris Review interview with Nelson Algren / by Alston Anderson and Terry Southern.
Summary:
"Algren's classic 1947 short story collection is the pure vein Algren would mine for all his subsequent novels and stories. The stories in this collection are literary triumphs that "don't fade away." Among the stories included here are "A Bottle of Milk for Mother," about a Chicago youth being cornered for a murder, and "The Face on the Barrome Floor," in which a legless man pummels another man nearly to death-the seeds that would grow into the novel Never Come Morning. Algren's World War II stories whose final expression would be in the novel The Man with the Golden Arm are also part of this collection. "So Help Me," Algren's first published work, is here. Other stories include, "The Captain Has Bad Dreams," in which Algren first introduced the character of the blameless captain who feels such a heavy burden of guilt and wonders why the criminal offenders he sees seem to feel no guilt at all. And then there is "Design for Departure," in which a young woman drifting into hooking and addiction sees her own dreaminess outlasting her hopes"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.