Nelson Algren can be categorized, first of all, as a journalist. For forty-eight years, he recorded life in the back alleys of America's cities and the problems of isolated people with no skills who are victims of hostile environments with which they are in constant combat. Born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham in Detroit, Michigan, he spent most of his early years in Chicago and was awarded a degree in journalism from the University of Illinois in 1931, the heart of the Depression. As a member of the jobless masses, he left Chicago and drifted to New Orleans and later to the Southwest, riding boxcars and taking odd jobs when he could find them.

In 1933, an Algren short story, "So Help Me," was accepted and published by Story magazine. This tale of the Southwest, based on Algren's experience, was noticed by Vanguard publishers, who gave him a small advance to work...