Most Popular Books by Nathanael West

In The Day of the Locust a young artist, Tod Hackett, arrives in Los Angeles full of dreams. But celebrity and artifice rule and he soon joins the ranks of the disenchanted that drift around the fringes of Hollywood. When he meets Faye Greener, an aspiring actress, he is intoxicated and his desperate passion explodes into rage. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.

THE STORY: As described by Atkinson in the NY Times: A scornful feature editor of a newspaper picks an ambitious young reporter to conduct the advice of the lovelorn column. Ambitious, opportunistic, ''Miss Lonelyhearts,'' as the conductor of the co

Nathanael West, originally named Nathan Weinstein, (1903 – 1940), was an American writer, primarily known for his satirical novels of the 1930s. His best-known works are "The Day of the Locust" and "Miss Lonelyhearts." Published in 1939, " The Day of the Locust" is a novel about the mythologies of Hollywood and the "American Dream." Enigmatic and disconcerting, this work narrates the experience of a set designer in a semi-hallucinatory and artificial Los Angeles (itself resembling a movie set), inhabited by a parade of eccentric characters and a crowd bewitched by the magic of cinema and promises of abundance and happiness. Both apocalyptic and moving, violent and absurdly comic, " The Day of the Locust" is, in the opinion of many, the best novel ever written about Hollywood.

Considered classics of American literature, Nathaneal West’s Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust reveal America at the height of the Great Depression, evoking the disillusionment and despair of that time. Miss Lonelyhearts explores the suffering a young advice columnist working for a New York City newspaper. Locked into a deep depression as the result of his work, Miss Lonelyhearts seeks comfort in drink, in religion, and in the meaningless affair that becomes his downfall. In The Day of the Locust, aspiring artist Tod Hackett falls in love with Faye Greener, a beautiful starlet with big dreams. Through his work as a costume designer and his burgeoning friendship with Faye, Tod is introduced to the world behind the movies, and the varied and unusual characters that populate the fringes of Hollywood. HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

Tod Hackett is a brilliant young artist - and a man in danger of losing his heart. Brought to an LA studio as a set-designer, he is soon caught up in a fantasy world where the cult of celebrity rules. But when he becomes besotted by the beautiful Faye, an aspiring actress and occasional call-girl, his dream rapidly becomes a nightmare. For, with little in the way of looks and no money to buy her time, Tod''s desperate passion can only lead to frustration, disillusionment and rage ...

Two classic short stories, one about a male reporter who writes an advice column, and the other, about people who have migrated to California in expectation of health and ease.

Welcome to the Essential Novelists book series, were we present to you the best works of remarkable authors. For this book, the literary critic August Nemo has chosen the two most important and meaningful novels of Nathanael West wich are Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust. Nathanael West was an American writer best known for satiric novels of the 1930s. West saw the American dream as having been betrayed, both spiritually and materially, and in his writing he presented "a sweeping rejection of political causes, religious faith, artistic redemption and romantic love". This idea of the corrupt American dream endured long after his death, in the form of the term "West''s disease", coined by the poet W. H. Auden to refer to poverty that exists in both a spiritual and economic sense. Novels selected for this book: - Miss Lonelyhearts. - The Day of the Locust.This is one of many books in the series Essential Novelists. If you liked this book, look for the other titles in the series, we are sure you will like some of the authors.

A great American satirist, Nathanael West laughs in the face of the Horatio Alger myth. Like many an Alger, Lemuel Pitkin leaves his home on the farm to seek his fortune in the Big City. By the time he is through, he has been robbed, jailed, has lost his teeth, his eye, a leg, his scalp, and has witnessed a remarkable number of assults and political riots. In A Cool Million, West etches a classic parable of America in the chaotic Thirties. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.