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Book Cover for: The Day of the Locust, Nathanael West

The Day of the Locust

Nathanael West

Paperback
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Reader Score

74%

74% of readers

recommend this book

Admired by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, and Dashiell Hammett, and hailed as one of the "Best 100 English-language novels" by Time magazine, The Day of the Locust continues to influence American writers, artists, and culture. Bob Dylan wrote the classic song "Day of the Locusts" in homage and Matt Groening's Homer Simpson is named after one of its characters. No novel more perfectly captures the nuttier side of Hollywood. Here the lens is turned on its fringes -- actors out of work, film extras with big dreams, and parents lining their children up for small roles. But it's the bit actress Faye Greener who steals the spotlight with her wildly convoluted dreams of stardom: "I'm going to be a star some day--if I'm not I'll commit suicide."

Book Details

  • Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
  • Publish Date: May 28th, 2015
  • Pages: 160
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 6.90in - 5.00in - 0.80in - 0.45lb
  • EAN: 9780811224611
  • Categories: • Literary• Biographical• Classics

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About the Author

West, Nathanael: - In 1940, when an automobile accident prematurely claimed Nathanael West's life, he was a relatively obscure writer, the author of only four short novels. West's reputation has grown considerably since then and he is now considered one of the 20th century's major authors. Born in New York, West worked as the night manager of the Kenmore Hotel on East 23rd Street in Manhattan, as a contract scriptwriter for Columbia Pictures in Hollywood, and as a screenwriter for RKO Radio Picture.

More books by Nathanael West

Book Cover for: Miss Lonelyhearts & the Day of the Locust, Nathanael West
Book Cover for: A Cool Million, Nathanael West
Book Cover for: Miss Lonelyhearts, Nathanael West
Book Cover for: A Cool Million and the Dream Life of Balso Snell: Two Novels, Nathanael West

What people are saying

Mentioner image for: Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
2 years

"West’s final novel is a Hollywood masterpiece, a scabrous, pointed satire of the movie business and its considerable discontents... its gimlet-eyed look at the industry’s hypocrisies and contradictions is both of its moment and ongoingly relevant."

– David Ulin is a book critic, author, and editor.
latimes.com
Mentioner image for: Daniel Hernandez ✍🏽🌞
Daniel Hernandez ✍🏽🌞
@longdrivesouth
2 years

Daniel Hernandez is food editor at the Los Angeles Times.

Just finished THE DAY OF THE LOCUST by Nathanael West, and, yep, terrifying: a sorry tale of a "Hollywood" vibe that stays the same in any decade. The climatic scene of mob hysteria shows West's mastery of observation on the broken dreams of endless streams of transplants. 😬 https://t.co/Ef2q1Zbawk

twitter.com
Mentioner image for: Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
@latimes
2 years

News from a West Coast perspective.

Looking for the 16 most essential L.A. literary novels? From “The Day of the Locust” to “Interior Chinatown,” here’s our list:https://t.co/1urxmVllfc

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Praise for this book

Los Angeles has been the subject of, and setting for, many fine novels yet The Day of the Locust still feels like the single best-achieved piece of fiction the city has inspired.-- "The Los Angeles Times"
West's Day of the Locust, a sun-blazed Polaroid of its time, seems permanently oracular.--Jonathan Lethem
Nathanael West's humor is of course not at the expense of the victim. It is a horselaugh at a world that is too ugly and bitter to be dealt with in any other way.-- "The New York Times"

What people are saying

Mentioner image for: Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
2 years

"West’s final novel is a Hollywood masterpiece, a scabrous, pointed satire of the movie business and its considerable discontents... its gimlet-eyed look at the industry’s hypocrisies and contradictions is both of its moment and ongoingly relevant."

– David Ulin is a book critic, author, and editor.
latimes.com
Mentioner image for: Daniel Hernandez ✍🏽🌞
Daniel Hernandez ✍🏽🌞
@longdrivesouth
2 years

Daniel Hernandez is food editor at the Los Angeles Times.

Just finished THE DAY OF THE LOCUST by Nathanael West, and, yep, terrifying: a sorry tale of a "Hollywood" vibe that stays the same in any decade. The climatic scene of mob hysteria shows West's mastery of observation on the broken dreams of endless streams of transplants. 😬 https://t.co/Ef2q1Zbawk

twitter.com
See more