Nelson Algren Live

One of the most neglected American writers and also one of the best loved, novelist Nelson Algren wrote about the dark underbelly of post-war America before it was ever fashionable to do so. Most known for the novel The Man with the Golden Arm, Algren was a bard of the down-and-outer, boldly depicting the life of the city's drunks, pimps, prostitutes, drug addicts, corrupt politicians, hoodlums and prize fighters. On what would have been his 100th birthday, a group of writers and actors gathered at Chicago's acclaimed Steppenwolf Theater to premiere Nelson Algren Live -- a celebration of Algren's life and work in his own words. This staged reading starred Willem Dafoe, Don DeLillo and Barry Gifford, with text adapted from a play by Gifford and Dan Simon.