The Man with the Golden Arm (50th Anniversary Edition): 50th Anniversary Critical Edition

The Man with the Golden Arm is Nelson Algren's most powerful and enduring work. On the 50th anniversary of its publication in November 1949, for which Algren was honored with the first National Book Award (which he received from none other than Eleanor Roosevelt at a ceremony in March 1950), Seven Stories is proud to release the first critical edition of an Algren work. A novel of rare genius, The Man with the Golden Arm describes the dissolution of a card-dealing WWII veteran named Frankie Machine, caught in the act of slowly cutting his own heart into wafer-thin slices. For Frankie, a murder committed may be the least of his problems. The literary critic Malcolm Cowley called The Man with the Golden Arm "Algren's defense of the individual," while Carl Sandburg wrote of its "strange midnight dignity." A literary tour de force, here is a novel unlike any other, one in which drug addiction, poverty, and human failure somehow suggest a defense of human dignity and a reason for hope. Special contributions by Russell Banks, Bettina Drew, James R. Giles, Carlo Rotella, William Savage, Lee Stringer, Studs Terkel, Kurt Vonnegut, and others. Winner of the 1950 National Book Award "Algren's defense of the individual in The Man with the Golden Arm brings a new dimension to realism." -- Malcolm Cowley SUMMARY: The Man with the Golden Arm is Nelson Algren's most powerful and enduring work. On the 50th anniversary of its publication in November 1949, for which Algren was honored with the first National Book Award (which he received from none other than Eleanor Roosevelt at a ceremony in March 1950), Seven Stories is proud to release the first critical edition of an Algren work. The Man with the Golden Arm is the classic American novel of the post-war period. Algren himself had wanted this relentlessly dark novel to be titled "Night Without Mercy," although he finally relented and allowed his publisher, Doubleday, to use their preferred title. Algren would name his cat Doubleday. Special contributions by Russell Banks, Bettina Drew, James R. Giles, Carlo Rotella, William Savage, Lee Stringer, Studs Terkel, Kurt Vonnegut, and others. "The finest American novel published since the war."-Washington Post Book World "A true novelist's triumph." TimestrongChicago Sun Times/em Fiction,Classics,General,Literary,Crime,Action & Adventure,Poor,Algren; Nelson,Criminals,Inner cities,Morphine habit,Chicago (Ill.),Games,Gamblers,Gambling,Morphine abuse,City and town life "A novel of rare genius, The Man with the Golden Arm has been called "Algren's most satisfying work." It describes the dissolution of a card-dealing WWII veteran named Frankie Machine, caught in the act of slowly cutting his own heart into water-thin slices. For Frankie, a murder committed may be the least of his problems.". "In this first critical edition of an Algren work, Algren's novel is joined by reminiscences from John Clellon Holmes, Mike Royko, Studs Terkel, and Kurt Vonnegut, among others; rare photos by Art Shay; a previously unpublished letter by Algren on the novel's genesis; and an array of critical views, both contemporary and historical."--BOOK JACKET. Critical essays accompany the story of gambler Frankie Machine as he struggles to stay alive amid the corruption and drug addiction of Chicago's slums and underworld