by Colin Asher
I quote from the following archives most frequently, and in these source notes, they are referred to using the abbreviations that appear in bold:
AK Collection: Nelson Algren Collection belonging to Amanda Algren, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, The Ohio State University.
BD Papers: Bettina Drew Papers on Nelson Algren, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, The Ohio State University.
DD Papers: Don DeLillo Papers, Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
JC Papers: Jack Conroy Papers, Modern Manuscripts, The Newberry Library.
JCH Papers: John Clellon Holmes Papers, 1959–1968, Special Collections and Archives, Kent State University.
KB Papers: Kay Boyle Papers, 1914–1987, Special Collections Research Center, Southern Illinois University.
MG Collection: Maxwell Geismar Collection, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University.
NA Collection: The Nelson Algren Collection, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, The Ohio State University.
RW Papers: Richard Wright Papers, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University.
The following people are referred to in these source notes by these abbreviations:
AA
Abraham Aaron
AK
Amanda Kontowicz (later, Amanda Algren)
BB
Betty Bendyk (later, Betty Algren)
BC
Benton Curtis
BD
Bettina Drew
CG
Christine Guilfoyle
DD
Don DeLillo
DP
Dave Peltz
EA
Edward Aswell
EH
Ernest Hemingway
FL
Frankie Lemon
JC
Jack Conroy
JCH
John Clellon Holmes
JF
James Farrell
JH
Jan Herman
KB
Kay Boyle
KMC
Kenneth McCormick
MC
Michael Caplan
MG
Maxwell Geismar
MGH
Martha Gellhorn (Hemingway)
NA
Nelson Algren
PF
Paul Forchheimer
RG
Roger Groening
RJ
Robert Joffe
RW
Richard Wright
SB
Simone de Beauvoir
SD
Stephen Deutch
INTRODUCTION
xi“The captain never”: Arm, pp. 3–4.
xii“Those first hours”: Entrapment, p. 169.
xiii“Never has any”: Nonconformity, p. 75.
xiiiearned a record sum: Edwin McDowell, “Herbert Alexander, Pocket Books Editor . . . ,” New York Times, 24 November 1988.
xiii“the best writer of good”: Algren’s copy of Native Son, NA Collection.
xiiiAlgren had topped Faulkner: Letter from EH to KMC, NA Collection.
xiv“You were one of the people”: Letter from Cormac McCarthy to NA, NA Collection.
xiv“I admired Algren”: Beef Torrey and Kevin Simonson, eds., Conversations with Hunter S. Thompson (Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi, 2008), p. 50.
xivBUDINTZ Coal: Arm, p. 219.
xivBudenz, without being prompted: NA’s FBI File.
xv“bard of the stumblebum”: Leslie A. Fiedler, “The Noble Savages of Skid Row,” Reporter, 12 July 1956.
xv“An underworld groupie”: William Styron, Havanas in Camelot (New York: Random House, 2008), pp. 108–18.
xv“puerile sentimentality”: Alfred Kazin, “Some People Passing By,” New York Times, 20 May 1956.
xvi“was a tragic loss”: “Amateur Night Way Out East,” unpublished memoir by RG, courtesy of JH.
xvi“read, remembered, and admired”: Catherine Meredith Brown, “Chicago without Tears or Dreams,” Saturday Review, 8 February 1947.
xvi“a writer of parables”: John Chamberlain, “Books of the Times.” New York Times, 25 April 1942.
xvi“the whole contour of”: Maxwell Geismar, American Moderns (New York: Hill & Wang, 1958), p. 190.
xvi“the dramatic sense of right”: Citation from American Academy of Arts, NA Collection.
THE STORY OF ISAAC
3a German Mauser: Eleanor Randolph, “Algren’s House Sale . . . ,” Chicago Tribune, 9 March 1975.
4“No, no novel”: Letter from NA to JCH, JCH Papers.
5offered them bourbon: Michael Edelstein and Robert Lamb, “No Room, No Time, No Breath . . . ,” Phoenix (University of Chicago), spring 1962.
5“great gray sub-civilization”: “Angry Author Scorns His City.” Chicago Daily News, 17 June 1961.
5“I’m not second best”: Interview of NA, David Ray Papers, University of Chicago Library.
5“The American way” and “I don’t know of one writer”: “No Room, No Time, No Breath.”
6“My mother had” and My father “was a machinist”: Conversations, pp. 3–4.
6paternal grandfather was named Nils: NA routinely spelled his grandfather’s name as “Nels,” but I suspect the proper spelling is “Nils.” A review of Swedish birth records from the period turns up many people with that name, and in every instance, it is spelled “Nils.”
6he was born in Sweden around 1820: US Census, 1880. NA routinely claimed (falsely) that his grandfather was born decades later, but the census established that Isaac was sixty years old in 1880.
7The manifest: New York Passenger Lists, 1820–1957, White Falcon, 18 July 1854.
8chided them for lapses: Unpublished memoir, NA Collection.
8entered the Minnesota Territory: Conversations, p. 6.
9Rabbi Bernhard Felsenthal: “Marriages Performed by Three Rabbis in Boston, Chicago and Massachusetts, 1861–1956,” Ancestry.com.
10perpetual motion and he abandoned: Conversations, p. 7.
11the Mount of Olives: Descriptions of Jerusalem come from John Cramb, Jerusalem in 1860: A Series of Photographic Views (Glasgow: Collins, 1860).
11Jette was not and “Hey! I’m coming”: Conversations, pp. 8–9.
12sixth child was Rosa: US Census, 1880.
12any flavor of gospel: Martha Heasley Cox, Nelson Algren (Boston: Twayne, 1975), p. 18.
15never claimed atheism: Unpublished memoir, NA Collection.
15once referred to God . . . “all our wars”: Conversations, pp. 14–15.
15faced his opponents: Interview of RJ, BD Papers.
15“There is no truth” and a streetcar arrived: Conversations, p. 10.
15Isaac died a few years later: US Census, 1900. Jette first listed herself as a widow on this census, and continued doing so for the remainder of her life.
16emigrated . . . sights set on: Conversations, p. 12.
16She married Gerson: Marriage license, BD Papers.
17had another daughter: Abraham family Bible, NA Collection.
17That child was born: Birth certificate, NA Collection.
BETWEEN ST. COLUMBANUS AND THE WROUGHT-IRON GATE OF OAK WOODS CEMETERY
18lost faith . . . in 1912: Conversations, p. 4. The year of the family’s move is often listed as 1913, but NA consistently said he moved to Chicago when he was three—meaning 1912, or the first three months of 1913. In some interviews, he said plainly that it was 1912.
18“no future” in cars: Interview of RJ, BD Papers.
19A teenager delivered: “Down Memory Lane with Ann Esch and Nelson Algren.” Chicago Tribune Magazine, 18 June 1972.
20cross on the church’s roof: Who Lost, p. 232.
20He built a garage: Unpublished memoir, NA Collection.
21She mixed up her Ms: Conversations, p. 17.
23Allies and Huns: Who Lost, p. 242, and unpublished memoir, NA Collection.
25“lucky cork or two”: Unpublished memoir, NA Collecti
on.
25piano crate . . . he hid inside: Interview of AK, BD Papers.
25toward the Warshawsky: Unpublished memoir, NA Collection.
27McGuire’s Ice Cream Kings: Who Lost, pp. 243–44.
28trucks . . . loaded with barrels: Unpublished memoir, NA Collection.
28MAN SELLS WIFE: All references to Blade content come from the 2 February 1918 and 5 July 1919 issues.
29Nelson timed his sales: Carousel, p. 229.
31“You’ve got him”: Unpublished memoir, NA Collection.
31“It’s just a case” and “sort of city-wide sorrow”: ibid.
32“feminine modernists”: “Pastor Declares Movement Is Periled . . . ,” Chicago Tribune, 21 March 1913.
32top scores in physics: Notes from Bernice’s diary, BD Papers.
32Bernice told Nelson to read: Who Lost, p. 233.
32a broadsheet newspaper: NA Collection.
34“You send Valentines to niggers”: Who Lost, p. 239.
34“Thousands of whites”: Letter from NA to RW, RW Archive.
34Bernice saw six: Unpublished memoir, NA Collection.
34love for the game “was not shaken”: Entrapment, p. 292.
“TELL YOUR TIRE TROUBLES TO NELSON ABRAHAM”
35He raised the car: Unpublished memoir, NA Collection.
37he sat on the back porch: Unpublished memoir, NA Collection.
37“We were the kind”: Interview of BC, BD Papers.
39Seven people and “Abraham continues”: Uptown Arrows record book, NA Collection.
40met on the beach and people who knew him best: Interview of RJ, BD Papers.
41“We felt life was”: Interview of BC, BD Collection.
42located in the building: Conversations, p. 18, and Interview of BC, BD Papers.
43“pang of shame” and “I can’t charge” : Unpublished memoir, NA Collection.
44“Well, that’s crazy”: Conversations, p. 18.
44forty dollars and “Are you going to open”: Unpublished memoir, NA Collection.
45“Now it’s time”: Conversations, p. 21.
46earned the highest grades: High School grade book, NA Collection.
46Civics Club and TELL YOUR TIRE TROUBLES: Roosevelt High School Year Book, 1927, courtesy of CG and Stuart Simon.
STOIC. ACADEMIC. INK-STAINED WRETCH.
47He had fifty dollars: Nelson Algren, p. 18.
48heavy load of classes: College transcript, BD Papers.
48Marcus Aurelius, forsaking indulgences, and Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Byron: Conversations, pp. 23–27.
50fewest number of words: Conversations, p. 24.
51William Styron and Terry Southern: Havanas in Camelot, pp. 108–18.
51Goldie’s favorite and “Man is made”: Conversations, p. 9.
52“For the first time”: Nelson Algren, p. 18.
52“It was an interesting kind of struggle” and “It wasn’t a passive”: Conversations, p. 26.
53A madam named Bess Maxwell: “Bawdy House Operator Talks.” Daily Illini, 28 February 1939.
53“think of nothing but” and “Well, I’ve got”: Conversations, p. 28.
54“Crime is an art”: “People Should Pay Attention to Crime. . . ,” Daily Illini, 17 April 1930.
55“[S]ocial conditions may”: William Fielding Ogburn, Social Change (New York: B.W. Huebsch), p. 332.
55“a strange midnight dignity”: This quotation comes from the back cover of the 1961 Ace Books edition of Arm.
55“I fulfill my obligations”: Arm, p. 104.
56“I think I began”: Conversations, p. 29.
57nine journalism courses: College transcript, BD Papers.
57stayed on campus: Daily Illini masthead, 25 December 1930.
57his grades were good: College transcript, BD Papers.
57capable “editor, columnist”: Conversations, p. 30.
57“I had tremendous faith”: “Break Through Myths of Our Time . . . ,” Daily Illini, 6 April 1957.
THE PAST RECEDED LIKE A WAVE JUST SPENT
58Nelson entered: “Early Chicago Journalism,” Chicago Free Press, 15 September 1970.
58Its office was: A.A. Dornfeld, Behind the Front Page (Chicago: Academy Chicago, 1983). The reference to the bottle of Scotch appears on page 151.
59I’m looking for a job: “Early Chicago Journalism.”
59he lost five thousand: Interview of RJ, courtesy of JH.
60the past had receded: Boots (Berkley Medallion 1965 edition), p. 7.
61Two officers, “If there is shooting,” and “A ruthless policy”: Randi Storch, Red Chicago (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2009). Also, Chicago Tribune, 4 August 1931.
64“We can’t pay you”: Conversations, p. 31.
65“I began fancying” and “Somebody told me”: Unpublished memoir, NA Collection.
67Nelson saw a man lying: Conversations, p. 55.
68bought a po’ boy: Nelson Algren, p. 21.
69a man from the sales crew: For all references to the Luthers, see the footnote.
71Nelson asked for work: Letter of introduction, NA Collection.
72“Jobs were absolutely,” There was a letter, and “Don’t ever show me”: Interview of BC, BD Papers.
75“I gave the whole Confederacy”: Alston Anderson and Terry Southern, “The Art of Fiction,” Paris Review, winter 1955.
76“I remember going through”: Conversations, p. 51.
“SO HELP ME”
77He witnessed “thousands” and “Everything I’d been”: Conversations, p. 55.
78The youth had an outfielder’s and a woman sitting “before a whiskey glass”: Boots (Berkley), p. 6.
78“the tens of thousands,” “all the whores,” and “sitting around”: Conversations, p. 55.
79The advertisement appeared: Conversations, p. 60.
79“Well,” he said and “You don’t need”: Interview of Murray Gitlin, BD Collection.
80“A dollar woman”: Nelson Algren, “So Help Me,” Story, August 1933.
81“vital, vigorous material”: Anvil references come from the first issue of The Anvil, May 1933.
82Conroy was a tall: Biographical references to Conroy are from Douglas C. Wixson, Worker-Writer in America (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994).
83“I am the bastard”: Herman Spector, The Bastard in the Ragged Suit (San Francisco: Synergistic Press, 1977), p. 57.
83“I was a little” and Gold was proud: Mike Gold, Jews without Money (New York: Public Affairs, 2009), pp. 37 and 11.
83Farrell said he wanted: James T. Farrell, Studs Lonigan (New York: Modern Library, 1938), p. xi.
84“Art is a class weapon”: This was the motto of the John Reed Clubs.
84He began corresponding: Letter from Milton Ellison, NA Collection.
85“I believed the world was”: Conversations, p. 87.
85“We are interested in, and What would you, and Ten dollars, Nelson said: Conversations, pp. 60–61, and Algren on Book Beat, WTTW-TV, 1974 [date unknown].
86“This letter will confirm”: Vanguard Press contract, courtesy of JH.
87“At the Mexican line” and “He’ll toss ’em”: Notebook, NA Collection.
88Railroad bulls stopped Nelson’s: Letter from NA to Bill [?], NA Collection.
88a bulb attached and Eventually, a redhead named: Interview of PF, BD Papers.
90“various eastern magazines”: “Young Novelist to Speak . . .” Skyline (Sul Ross State Teachers College), December 1933, courtesy of CG.
90“I didn’t have a novel”: letter from NA to Bill [?], NA Collection.
91“American Diary”: NA Collection.
91The meeting was held: “Novelist Talks on Proletarian Culture.” Skyline, 15 January 1934, courtesy of CG.
91“All night one night”: Untitled poem, NA Collection.
92Nelson walked up: Algren’s deposition, courtesy of CG.
92Nelson hopped off: Conversations, p. 38.
92“I wanted a
typewriter”: Algren’s deposition, courtesy of CG.
“WHAT IS A CARPENTER WITHOUT HIS TOOLS?”
93I kissed her: Notebook, NA Collection.
93He killed a Mexican man and A one-handed drifter: Conversations, pp. 39–41.
94“Every man must wash”: “Rules of the Court,” NA Collection.
94Nelson wrote and drew: Notebook, NA Collection.
94“I’m on my way to Huntsville”: Interview of JC, BD Papers.
94“I’ve gotten myself into”: Notebook, NA Collection.
94“It was a big event”: Conversations, p. 43.
94“I don’t think”: Interview of PF, BD Papers.
94southern gentleman: Account of NA’s time in Alpine by J. Allen Briggs, BD Papers.
95“militant, defiant man”: “ ‘Taking Ways’ Cause of Young Novelist’s . . . ,” Skyline, February 1934, courtesy of CG.
95on my way to hell: Interview of JC, BD Papers.
95“a youth with a mysterious brain”: “ ‘Taking Ways’ Cause of Young Novelist’s . . .”
95“not stealing because of,” “You would not be hard on a carpenter,” and “What is a carpenter”: Notes on NA collected from an interview of PF, courtesy of CG.
96“This young man claims”: Account of NA’s time in Alpine by J. Allen Briggs, BD Papers.
96“The defendant,” he said: Judge’s instructions, BD Papers.
96“We, the jury”: Jury’s verdict, BD Papers.
97“So long,” he said: “ ‘Taking Ways’ Cause of Young Novelist’s . . .”
SOMEBODY IN BOOTS
99He taught his grandson, he flinched, and “Long live”: Interview of RJ, BD Papers.
99“You are going to”: Letter from JC to NA, NA Collection.
100found a door bearing: Richard Wright, American Hunger (New York: Harper & Row, 1977), chapter IV.
102He was “shy”: Interview of Sam Ross, BD Papers.
102He had a “gangling, shuffling”: Interview of AA, BD Papers.
102We were all “on the verge” and “He had a very conscious”: Interview of Meridel Le Sueur, BD Papers.
102“Nelson was death”: Interview of AA, BD Papers.