Nelson Algren
Nelson Algren (March 28, 1909 – May 9, 1981) was an American writer. His 1949 novel The Man with the Golden Arm, won the National Book Award, and was adapted as the 1955 film of the same name. Algren wrote his first story, "So Help Me", in 1933, wh
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Nelson Algren (March 28, 1909 – May 9, 1981) was an American writer. His 1949 novel The Man with the Golden Arm, won the National Book Award, and was adapted as the 1955 film of the same name. Algren wrote his first story, "So Help Me", in 1933, while he was in Texas working at a gas station. Before returning to Chicago, he was caught stealing a typewriter from an empty classroom at Sul Ross State University in Alpine. He boarded a train for his getaway but was apprehended and returned to Alpine. He was held in jail for nearly five months and faced a possible additional three years in prison. He was released, but the incident made a deep impression on him. In 1935 Algren won the first of his three O. Henry Awards for his short story, "The Brother's House." The story was first published in Story magazine and was reprinted in an anthology of O. Henry Award winners.
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