{"product_id":"never-a-lovely-so-real-the-life-and-work-of-nelson-algren-9780393357899","title":"Never a Lovely So Real: The Life and Work of Nelson Algren","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor a time, Nelson Algren was America's most famous author, lauded by the likes of Richard Wright and Ernest Hemingway. But at the height of his career, he abandoned fiction and fell into obscurity. Colin Asher's sublime biography of Algren unravels the enigma of his disappearance, explores the richness of his novels and nonfiction writing, and explains how a rash creative decision may have led his enemies to denounce him to the FBI during the Red Scare. Asher tells Algren's story in rich, novelistic detail, including his long-term affair with Simone de Beauvoir and the emotional breakdown that nearly cost him his life. Drawing from interviews, archival correspondence, and Algren's 886-page FBI file, \u003cem\u003eNever a Lovely So Real\u003c\/em\u003e portrays Algren as a dramatic iconoclast and reclaims him as a towering literary figure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAsher, Colin:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eColin Asher\u003c\/strong\u003e is an award-winning writer whose work has been featured in the \u003cem\u003eBeliever\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/em\u003e, and the \u003cem\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/em\u003e. An instructor at CUNY, he was a 2015\/2016 Fellow at the Leon Levy Center for Biography.","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50411056464146,"sku":"9780393357899","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_517caf42-f686-428b-bb96-0932270a62cd.jpg?v=1729309979","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/never-a-lovely-so-real-the-life-and-work-of-nelson-algren-9780393357899","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}