Nonconformity

“A handbook for tough, truth-telling outsiders who are proud, as was Algren, to damn well stay that way.” –Kurt Vonnegut

“In the never-before-published, book-length essay Nonconformity … [Algren] articulates an American literary world view that should guide the generations of writers to follow him—a quest so ambitious it is hard to think of any other American writer who attempted it since, perhaps, Ralph Waldo Emerson in Self-Reliance.” –Gerald Nicosia, Chicago Sun-Times

“A passionate defense of the writer … Angry and funny as Algren usually is.” –Kirkus Reviews

“This extended essay on what it takes to be a writer—and by extension a man—provides a corrosive antidote to any fin de siecle sentimentalizing of the American midcentury.” –The Boston Globe

“Nonconformity underscores the beliefs of Algren, Dreiser and an army of intellectuals that it is the duty of the serious writer to serve as society’s moral conscience … Simon has done a great service in bringing this book into print.” –Bettina Drew, Chicago Tribune

“Wise, courageous and humane.” –Publishers Weekly

Nelson Algren was an American writer born on March 28, 1909, in Detroit, who lived mostly in Chicago. His career began with the publication of his first short fiction in Story magazine in 1933, followed by his debut novel, Somebody in Boots, in 1935.

During World War II, Algren’s novel Never Come Morning was widely praised and eventually sold over a million copies. His 1947 short story collection, The Neon Wilderness, solidified his reputation. His most significant novel, The Man with the Golden Arm, published in 1949, won the first National Book Award for Fiction in 1950.

Algren also authored the prose poem Chicago: City on the Make (1951) and A Walk on the Wild Side (1956). His travel books include Who Lost an American? and Notes from a Sea Voyage. The Last Carousel, a collection of short fiction and nonfiction, was published in 1973.

He died on May 9, 1981, shortly after being appointed a fellow of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Posthumous publications include his last novel, The Devil’s Stocking (1983), and the essay collection Nonconformity: Writing on Writing (1996). In 2009, Entrapment and Other Writings was released, featuring previously unpublished works.

Daniel Simon is the founder and publisher of Seven Stories Press, and has co-authored and translated several books. His writings have appeared in publications such as The Monthly Review and The Nation. He was recognized as a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic in 1996.

C.S. O’Brien is a writer and editor based in New York.

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