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A Walk On The Wild Side

By Nelson Algren
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3.91 goodreads logo

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Check link for latest rating. ( 1,642 ratings, 158 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
A Walk On The Wild Side follows Dove Findhorn, a naive country boy who escapes his small Texas town seeking a better life in New Orleans. Amid the city's downtrodden prostitutes, bootleggers, and hustlers, Dove confronts a brutal reality of crime and despair that shatters the American Dream. The novel is an angry, large-hearted, often funny masterpiece portraying a vivid, harsh world immortalised in Lou Reed's classic song.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This novel will appeal to readers interested in classic American literature, gritty urban fiction, and stories of flawed, resilient characters pursuing elusive dreams.

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The book that inspired Lou Reed's 'A Walk on the Wild Side' and was made into a screenplay by John Fante

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Dove Findhorn is a naïve country boy who busts out of Hicksville, Texas in pursuit of a better life in New Orleans. Amongst the downtrodden prostitutes, bootleggers and hustlers of the old French Quarter, Dove finds only hopelessness, crime and despair. His quest uncovers a harrowing grotesque of the American Dream.

A Walk On The Wild Side is an angry, lonely, large-hearted and often funny masterpiece that has captured the imaginations of every generation since its first publication in 1956, and that rendered a world later immortalised in Lou Reed's classic song.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Telegraph calls the book a cult classic and a poetic force of nature celebrating society's outsiders. The Times describes it as one of the most powerful books ever read. The Scotsman highlights Russell Banks's essay illuminating Algren's own life of doomed love and disappointment. Ernest Hemingway praised Algren's skill, and the New York Times Book Review marvelled at his passionate portrayal of democracy's foundations.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781841956800

Publisher: Canongate Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 26 January 2006

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Canongate Books

Edition: Main

Contributors:

  • Introduction by Richard Flanagan
  • Introduction by Richard Flanagan

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 30.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 200.0mm

Weight: 200g

Pages: 368

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Nelson Algren

About the Author

Nelson Algren was born in 1909 in Detroit and lived mostly in Chicago. His published works including A Walk on the Wild Side (which inspired the Lou Reed song of the same name), Somebody in Boots and Never Come Morning. He was also a prolific writer of short stories, essays, travelogues and poems. In 1950 The Man with the Golden Arm earned him the first American National Book Award. His life was a succession of gambling problems, disastrous marriages and wild extremes - ranging from Texas prisons and skid-row soup-kitchens to Hollywood parties and literary celebrations. He also had a passionate love affair with French feminist Simone de Beauvoir. Algren died in 1981, shortly after being appointed as a fellow of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.

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