Lonelyhearts : The Screwball World of Nathanael West and Eileen McKenney

NATHANAEL WEST novelist, screenwriter, playwright, devoted outdoorsman was one of the most gifted and original writers of his generation, a comic artist whose insight into the brutalities of modern life proved prophetic. He is famous for two masterpieces, Miss Lonelyhearts (1933) and The Day of the Locust (1939). Seventy years later, The Day of the Locust remains the most penetrating novel ever written about Hollywood. EILEEN MCKENNEY accidental muse, literary heroine was the inspiration for her sister Ruth s humorous stories, My Sister Eileen , which led to stage, film, and television adaptations, including Leonard Bernstein s 1953 musical Wonderful Town. She grew up in Cleveland and moved to Manhattan at 21 in search of romance and adventure. She and her sister lived in a basement apartment in the Village with a street-level window into which men frequently peered. Husband and wife were intimate with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, Katharine White, S.J. Perelman, Bennett Cerf, and many of the literary, theatrical, and movie notables of their era. With Lonelyhearts, biographer Marion Meade, whose Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin earned accolades from the Washington Post Book World ("Wonderful") to the San Francisco Chronicle ("Like looking at a photo album while listening to a witty insider reminisce about the images"), restores West and McKenney to their rightful places in the rich cultural tapestry of interwar America. A “breezily entertaining” look at the comic couple who hobnobbed with Dorothy Parker, S. J. Perelman, Bennett Cerf, and other luminaries of their day ( The New York Times Book Review ). Nathanael West—author, screenwriter, playwright—was famous for two masterpieces: Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust , which remains one the most penetrating novels ever written about Hollywood. He was also one of the most gifted and original writers of his generation, a scathing satirist whose insight into the brutalities of modern life proved prophetic. Eileen McKenney—accidental muse, literary heroine—grew up corn-fed in the Midwest and moved to Manhattan’s Greenwich Village when she was twenty-one. The inspiration for her sister Ruth’s stories in the New Yorker under the banner of “My Sister Eileen,” she became an overnight celebrity, and her star eventually crossed with that of the man she would impulsively marry. Together, Nathanael and Eileen had entrée into a social circle that included F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dashiell Hammett, Katharine White, and many of the literary, theatrical, and film luminaries of the era. But their carefree, offbeat Broadway-to-Hollywood love story would flame out almost as soon as it began. Now, with “a great marriage of scholarship and gossip” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune), this biography restores West and McKenney to their rightful place in the popular imagination, offering “a shrewd portrait of two people who in their different ways were noteworthy participants in American culture during one of its liveliest periods” ( Los Angeles Times ). “Opens a window onto the lives of writers in 1930s America as they struggled with anxieties, pretensions, temptations and myths that confound our culture to this day.” —Salon.com “The first to fully chronicle and entwine these careening lives, Meade forges an engrossing, madcap, and tragic American story of ambition, reinvention, and risk.” — Booklist , starred review ... A Dazzling Joint Biography Of Nathanael West And His Wife, Set Against The World Of New York Writers And Hollywood Screenwriters In The 1930s.--inside Jacket. In The Hotel -- Dusty Esky In Harlem -- Mishawaka -- San Juan Hill, New York -- The Stenographer From Canton -- Crimes And Misdemeanors -- Becoming Nathanael West -- Balso Snell's Book Of Dirty Little Secrets -- Cleveland Heights Princess -- Ring Out, Wild Balls -- The Big Steal -- Marooned On Silsby Road -- Screwballs And Screwboxes -- Shirtsleeves To Shirtsleeves -- 14 Gay Street -- Cheapsville -- Sister Eileen And Mrs. White -- Destined To Be A Heroine -- An Arsonist's Guide To Los Angeles -- Stinkolas, Humdingers, Lollapaloozas, Twisteroos -- Eileen In Disneyland -- Together -- El Centro -- Postscript. Marion Meade. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. In the hotel Dusty esky in Harlem Three Mishawaka San Juan Hill, New York The stenographer from Canton Crimes and misdemeanors Becoming "Nathanael West" Balso Snell's book of dirty little secrets Cleveland Heights princess Ring out, wild balls The big steal Marooned on Silsby Road Screwballs and screwboxes Shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves 14 Gay Street Cheapsville Sister Eileen and Mrs. White Destined to be a heroine An arsonist's guide to Los Angeles Stinkolas, humdingers, lollapaloozas, twisteroos Eileen in Disneyland Together El Centro Postscript. Nathanael West was a comic artist whose insight into the brutalities and absurdities of modern life proved prophetic. Eileen McKenney, accidental muse and literary heroine, fled Cleveland in search of romance and adventure. This dual biography provides a lens into a world that continues to capture artists' imaginations. Explores the lives of the husband-and-wife literary writers, including their friendships with American notables of the 1920s and 30s, their devotion to their craft, and their dual tragic end in the prime of their lives.