Never a Lovely So Real

by Colin Asher

  218“Did I ever tell you” and “Give my regards”: Letter from NA to Mary Guggenheim, BD Papers.

  219“I’d like to make it lighter”: Letter from NA to AK, AK Collection.

  219“[I]f you think la vie ici”: Letter from NA to Mary Guggenheim, BD Papers.

  220“Far from being ashamed”: Letter from NA to Mary Guggenheim, BD Papers.

  220Guggenheim flew to: This account of Guggenheim’s visit comes from an interview of Mary Guggenheim, BD Papers.

  220“A writer of sociological slant”: Kelsey Guilfoil, “Stories Bare Bitter Truth . . . ,” Chicago Tribune, 26 January 1947.

  221“the staccato precision”: “Chicago without Tears or Dreams.”

  221“determined that we should . . . see”: John Woodburn, “People of the Abyss,” New York Times, 2 February 1947.

  222“suggest the whole contour”: American Moderns, p. 190.

  222reputation as “one of the few”: Wilderness (Four Walls Eight Windows 1986 edition), p. 7.

  A BOY FROM THE PROVINCES

  223he had been cooking: Conversations, p. 180

  223“Please be patient”: Simone de Beauvoir, America Day by Day (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000), p. 96.

  224“That Simone Boudoir”: Letter from NA to Mary Guggenheim, BD Papers.

  225she could only understand: America Day by Day, p. 97.

  225French government was sponsoring: This account of Beauvoir’s travel comes from America Day by Day.

  225“I told her all about the war”: Conversations, p. 181.

  225“Why did they build so many”: America Day by Day, p. 91.

  226fixated on a serial killer and I’m the only serious writer: Conversations, p. 182.

  226“I think you’re the only sinister thing”: ibid.

  226The room thrummed and “It’s beautiful”: America Day by Day, pp. 97–98.

  227The main room was almost: This account of the scene in the saloon comes from America Day by Day, pp. 98–99.

  227she and Nelson left and they began making love: Deirdre Bair, Simone de Beauvoir (New York: Summit Books, 1990), p. 336.

  228brought her to a private club: America Day by Day, pp. 100–101.

  229borrowed a government car: This account of the afternoon comes from Simone de Beauvoir, p. 336.

  229upset, and she refused to let go: Simone de Beauvoir, After the War: Force of Circumstance, vol. I (New York: Paragon House, 1992), p. 125.

  229“He seems to me”: America Day by Day, p. 103.

  229“Before going to sleep”: Simone de Beauvoir, A Transatlantic Love Affair (New York: New Press, 1998), p. 12.

  230picked up a copy: Letter from NA to AK, AK Collection.

  230“in recognition of his stories”: Citation from American Academy of Arts, NA Collection.

  230two of Carl Sandburg’s books: Letter from NA to Carl Sandburg, Carl Sandburg Papers, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

  230Mary Guggenheim returned and “He just let me go”: Interview of Mary Guggenheim, BD Papers.

  231hotel called the Brevoort: Simone de Beauvoir, p. 340.

  231agreed she should write: ibid., p. 353.

  232“only a boy from the provinces”: ibid., p. 340.

  232“If he was sometimes blunt”: Force of Circumstance, vol. I, p. 126.

  233“[H]e believed me”: ibid.

  233wanted to say goodbye and “à Simone”: Simone de Beauvoir, p. 341.

  233“I feel you with me”: A Transatlantic Love Affair, p. 15.

  234Nelson preferred the latter: This account of NA’s Clark Street haunts comes from America Day by Day, pp. 356–58.

  234might be too big a word: This account of Jack’s apartment and the group of people associated with it comes from NA’s Paris Review interview, NA’s recollections in Conversations, Beauvoir’s account of the apartment in Force of Circumstance, vol. I (pp. 154–56), and an interview of DP, courtesy of JH.

  235“I consider myself properly”: Letter from R. Majowski to NA, NA Collection.

  236scenes “in which human beings”: Conversations, pp. 93–94.

  236“I even got rid of [Bud]”: Letter from NA to AK, AK Collection.

  236“I’m reworking the first couple hundred”: Letter from NA to KMC, NA Collection.

  237“Make it good”: A Transatlantic Love Affair, p. 29.

  237“I have to find a way of saying the truth”: ibid., p. 35.

  238“I can feel my love for you”: ibid., p. 36.

  238“I could never give everything”: ibid., p. 52.

  239“it is Nelson-seeing I want”: ibid., p. 58.

  239Beauvoir’s trip began: This account of Beauvoir’s visit comes from Force of Circumstance, vol. I (pp. 135–36), America Day by Day (pp. 361–64), and Simone de Beauvoir (pp. 352–54).

  EXILE?

  241“whiz us” and “jump off”: Notes on Division Street idioms, NA Collection.

  242“Jesus, that’s dessert”: “The Art of Fiction.”

  242“Jack is having trouble”: ibid.

  243Jack was an advocate: ibid.

  243drummer from Arkansas: Conversations, p. 155.

  243Bill Hackett, the card dealer: Conversations, p. 104. Hackett is referred to as Acker.

  243Paula Bays was also desperate: This account of Bays’s stay at Nelson’s comes from a memoir entitled “Blanche Sweet under the Tapioca,” Chicago Tribune, 30 April 1972. In it, NA refers to Bays as Margo and claims he met her shortly after his army service ended. The account appears to be accurate, except for the timeline. BD later interviewed Bays, Caesar Tabet, and DP, and the information provided by those interviews allowed me to confirm that Bays was Margo, to fill in Bays’s biography, and correct the timeline of NA’s account. JH also interviewed DP about Bays, and NA later testified at Bays’ divorce hearing.

  246“You think that, uh”: “The Art of Fiction.”

  246“Well,” the boy said: ibid.

  246“You gotta belong to somebody”: Conversations, p. 104.

  247“Well, you don’t know what it’s like”: Conversations, p. 155.

  247“The morphine was heated”: Field notes, 15 April 1948, NA Collection.

  248“[T]he committee is seeking”: “Congress Investigates Communists in Hollywood,” Universal Newsreel, 20 October 1947.

  248Walt Disney was one: HUAC Testimony. 24 October 1947.

  248Gary Cooper went: HUAC testimony. 23 October 1947.

  249A rabbi named Schultz: Rabbi Benjamin Schultz, “Communists Invade the Churches,” Pittsburgh Press, 16 October 1947.

  249the US Chamber of Commerce: A Program for Anti-Communist Action (Washington: Chamber of Commerce of the United States, 1948).

  250The Newberry Library: Letter from Newberry Library to NA, NA Collection.

  250Nelson spotted Beauvoir: Shared diary, NA Collection.

  250“Happened upon a strange”: ibid.

  250Nelson brought Beauvoir: Force of Circumstance, vol. I, pp. 154–55.

  250“ . . . bank, traveler’s checks”: Shared diary, NA Collection.

  250On their fifth morning: This account of NA and SB’s trip comes from Force of Circumstance, vol. I, pp. 156–60.

  251“Went out to the bull park”: Letter from NA to JC, courtesy of JH.

  252I have to return to Paris: Force of Circumstance, vol. I, p. 158.

  253“I began to pay”: ibid., p. 159.

  254“I’m ready to marry you”: ibid., p. 160.

  254“I realized,” she wrote later: ibid.

  254a letter from Ken McCormick: Letter from KMC to NA, NA Collection.

  255“I won’t have an affair”: Force of Circumstance, vol. I, pp. 166–67.

  256He spoke at several: “Writers for Wallace” flier, NA Collection.

  256“Yours for Wallace”: Letter from NA to Carl Sandburg, Carl Sandburg Papers, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

  256an open letter: “Moscow says 32 Artists . . . ,” New York Times, 3 May 1948.
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  257BUDINTZ COAL: Arm, p. 219.

  258“ ‘Aesopian’ language”: Ellen Schrecker, The Age of McCarthyism (Boston: Bedford Books, 1994), p. 180.

  258He used their apartment: Interview of AK, BD Papers.

  260Beauvoir was eager: This account of NA’s vacation with SB comes from Force of Circumstance, vol. I, pp. 178–84.

  262“They know it is not out of kindness”: Letter from NA to Carl Sandburg, Carl Sandburg Papers, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

  262Nelson and Wright met and “I’d be afraid”: Bettina Drew, Nelson Algren: A Life on the Wild Side (New York: Putnam, 1989), p. 206.

  264“You have no right”: Force of Circumstance, vol. I, p. 180.

  264Hassine Ameur Djemail: Letter from NA to JC, courtesy of JH.

  265“He went through the door”: Force of Circumstance, vol. I, p. 184.

  “OK, KID, YOU BEAT DOSTOYEVSKY”

  266began signing copies: This account of the signing party comes from Stuart Brent, The Seven Stairs (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1962; New York: Touchstone, 1989), pp. 41–44, and Fanny Butcher, “The Literary Spotlight,” Chicago Tribune, 16 October 1949.

  267“I would crown”: Kelsey Guilfoil, “Novel of the Damned . . . ,” Chicago Tribune, 11 September 1949.

  267“are far outweighed”: A.C. Spectorsky, “Saloon Street, Chicago,” New York Times, 11 September 1949.

  267“Readers with queasy”: “The Lower Depths,” Time, 12 September 1949.

  277Book Find Club selected: Letter from KMC to NA, NA Collection.

  277Pocket Books paid: “Herbert Alexander, Pocket Books . . .”

  277Time magazine: Letter from KMC to NA, NA Collection.

  277“a run-of-the-mill Chicagoese”: Harvey Breit, “Talk with Nelson Algren,” New York Times, 2 October 1949.

  278“I think it’s the strongest”: Letter from Ken Millar to NA, NA Collection.

  278“I honest to God don’t know”: Letter from Bob Lowry to NA, NA Collection.

  278“Into a world of letters”: Letter from EH, NA Collection.

  278“Algren is probably”: Carlos Baker, ed., Ernest Hemingway: Selected Letters (New York: Scribner, 1981), p. 681.

  278“OK, kid, you beat”: Norberto Fuentes, Hemingway in Cuba (Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart, 1984), p. 266.

  278pressed Ken McCormick: Letter from NA to KMC, NA Collection.

  279“[P]lease don’t consider”: Letter from KMC to NA, NA Collection.

  279kept in touch with Richard Majewski: Letter from Richard Majewski to NA, NA Collection.

  279“Nelson, I’d like to say again”: Letter from John Bays to NA, NA Collection.

  280A man named Bob Roberts: This account of Nelson and Hackett’s departure comes from Conversations, pp. 103–107. Roberts is referred to as Moxon.

  282“a thousand merry-go-rounds”: Letter from NA to Ken Millar. The Morgan Library and Museum.

  282Nelson and Hackett had nothing to do: Letter from NA to JC, courtesy of JH, and Interview of AK, BD Papers.

  282The problem was money: Conversations, p. 108.

  283trading insults freely: This account of NA’s negotiation with Roberts comes from Conversations, pp. 112–13, and Thomas F. Brady, “Metro Planning Sequel to Movie,” New York Times, 16 February 1950.

  284had been released after: Interview of KMC, BD Papers.

  284The award ceremony was held: “Book Publishers Make 3 Awards,” New York Times, 17 March 1950.

  284largest group of “critics”: Frederic Babcock, “National Book Awards Go to . . . ,” Chicago Tribune, 26 March 1950.

  285“I’m going around thanking”: Conversations, p. 111.

  “HOW LONG DOES THIS SORT OF THING GO ON?”

  286taught a writing course: Letter from NA to Ed Rolfe, Rolfe Archive, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

  287writing a screenplay: Conversations, p. 115.

  287long essay about Chicago’s history: Letter from NA to KMC, NA Collection.

  287photographer named Art Shay: Personal interview of Art Shay, 3 January 2013.

  287Nelson and Amanda had rekindled: Interview of AK, BD Papers.

  288We refused to testify: The Hollywood Ten, Ironweed Films, 1947.

  289a pamphlet called Red Channels: Red Channels was published by the American Business Consultants, publishers of Counterattack, in June 1950.

  290bring in about five hundred dollars: Letter from NA to Ed Rolfe, Rolfe Archive, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

  290“American artists are being”: “What Are You Doing Out There?” New York Times, 15 January 1951.

  290“It looks like a year in the pokey”: Letter from NA to Ed Rolfe, Rolfe Archive, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

  290afraid to leave Paris: This account of Beauvoir’s visit comes from Force of Circumstance, vol. I, pp. 224–30.

  292The woman Beauvoir invited: Interview of DP, courtesy of JH.

  293“Because I gave you so little”: A Transatlantic Love Affair, p. 435.

  293“One can still have the same feelings”: Force of Circumstance, vol. I, pp. 250–51.

  294Marijuana grew wild: Interview of AK, BD Papers.

  294Amanda visited the month: ibid.

  294He was “wide-eyed”: A Life on the Wild Side, p. 223.

  295Dave Peltz . . . moved: Interview of DP, courtesy of JH.

  295Jesse Blue—the toughest character, called the woman Shotsy, and James Blake, a writer: Interview of DP, courtesy of JH.

  296I just left prison: James Blake, The Joint (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971), p. 125.

  296I had a black lover: ibid., p. 317.

  298account of Chicago’s history: All references to this essay’s contents are derived from its final published version, Chicago: City on the Make.

  300They pushed him: Letter from Harry Sions to NA, NA Collection.

  300Nelson submitted his manuscript: Letter from Harry Nickles to NA, NA Collection.

  300“seriously handicapped”: Letter from NA to Harry Nickles, NA Collection.

  300“It is necessary to go back”: Emmett Dedmon, “Hustling Metropolis,” Saturday Review, 8 December 1951.

  301“work of genius”: This quote appeared in an advertisement in the Chicago Tribune on 18 November 1951.

  301“Ra(n)t Control”: Chicago (University of Chicago Press, 2001 edition), p. 87.

  301prose was “kaleidoscopic”: “Chicago: City on the Make,” Nation, 10 November 1951.

  301“an embarrassment”: “Books in Brief,” New Republic, 4 February 1952.

  NONCONFORMITY

  302Paula Bays couldn’t tolerate: This account is based on interviews of Paula Bays and Caesar Tabet, BD Papers, and an interview of DP, courtesy of JH.

  303He had recently joined: NA’s FBI file.

  303“I would like to state”: ibid.

  303mutual friend named Caesar Tabet: Interview of Caesar Tabet, BD Papers.

  304John, got to her: Bays’s divorce papers. Cook County General No. 53c-2733.

  304“You hang on to”: Interview of Caesar Tabet, BD Papers.

  305“The struggle to write”: “There’s Going to be a Pile-Up on U.S. 66” [speech transcript], courtesy of JH.

  307Nelson was sitting: Van Allen Bradley, “Author Nelson Algren . . . ,” Chicago Daily News, 6 September 1952.

  308“When am I”: Letter from NA to AK, AK Collection.

  308they started to plan and “[I]t strikes me”: ibid.

  309Amanda flew into O’Hare: This account of Amanda’s arrival comes from an interview of AK, courtesy of JH, and an interview of AK, BD Papers.

  311GREAT WRITING BOGGED DOWN: Chicago Daily News, 18 December 1952.

  311a reader ordered: Note, written by Bradley, attached to Nonconformity manuscript, NA Collection.

  311Bradley wanted to release: Letter from Bradley to KMC, NA Collection.

  311He decided Doubleday should: Letter from KMC to Bradley, NA Collection.

  312the Stat
e Department notified: NA’s FBI file.

  312It “ruined him”: Interview of AK, BD Papers.

  313“I wish you would stay out”: Letter from Blake to NA, JC Papers.

  313Millar thought the portion: Letter from NA to Ken Millar, Morgan Library and Museum.

  313“[W]hatever I’m accused of”: ibid.

  313An FBI agent visited: This account of the FBI’s scrutiny comes from NA’s FBI file.

  316Amanda opened the door: This account of NA’s second wedding to AK comes from interviews of AK, Caesar Tabet, and Paula Bays, BD Papers.

  317Nelson wrote to Beauvoir: A Transatlantic Love Affair, pp. 478–82.

  317She retyped portions: Interview of AK, BD Papers.

  317The book begins: All references to this essay are from Nonconformity.

  320Nelson felt beset upon: Interview of AK, BD Papers.

  321he requested a thousand: Letter from NA to MG, MG Collection.

  321“Guess what happened?”: Interview of AK, BD Papers.

  321Seldes’s instructions: Letter from NA to MG, MG papers.

  321Nelson got him high: Personal interview of Timothy Seldes and Susan Shreve, 8 March 2015.

  322“I am so depressed”: Letter from MG to NA, NA Collection.

  322Doubleday finally responded: Letter from NA to MG, MG Collection.

  322“I’ll tell you what I think”: Letter from NA to Millen Brand, Millen Brand Papers, Columbia University Libraries.

  “RIDING DAY-COACHES TO NOWHERE”

  323he pressed the tip: This manuscript, entitled Angel’s Trade, can be found in the NA Collection.

  324they offered to pay: Letter from NA to MG, MG Collection.

  325he started riding the train: A Transatlantic Love Affair, pp. 491–92.

  326“I think that the writers”: Letter from NA to MG, MG Collection.

  326Le Sueur was waiting tables: Interview of Meridel Le Sueur, BD Papers.

  327The beach was: Interview of AK, BD Papers.

  327Nelson packed a bag in July: This account of NA’s trip to Texas and Mexico comes from a letter from NA to MG, MG collection.

  329He returned to Gary: Letter from NA to MG, MG collection.

  329Nelson’s last stop of the year: ibid.

  330“I can’t tell you how right”: ibid.

  331An employee of the: Letter from NA to AK, AK Collection.

  331“Mr. Preminger is coming”: This account of NA’s meeting with Preminger comes from Conversations, pp. 118–19.