A cool million, written in 1934, is a satiric horatio alger. The dismantling of lemuel pitkin is nathanael west s third novel, published in 1934. A cool million ebook by nathanael west 9781622400171. With the advent of 1934 he published a third novel, a cool million. Nathanael west nathanael west was born nathan weinstein in new york city on october 17th, 1903. Nathanael west was only thirtyseven when he died in 1940, but his depictions of the sometimes comic. Nathanael west, a cool million berkeley, 1934 despite having published less than six hundred pages of material in his short and rather unhappy life, nathanael west is revered in critical circles for two groundbreaking american novels, miss lonelyhearts and the day of the locust. It is a brutal satire of horatio algers novels and their eternal optimism. A satire of the horatio alger narrative, nathanael west s a cool million, or the dismantling of lemuel pitkin gains comedic effect from its slapstick portrayal of a protagonist who is slowly dismantled and then reassembled. Although west was not widely known during his life, his reputation grew after his death, especially with the publication of his collected novels by new directions in 1957.
Whereas alger privileges the myth of the selfmade man, west s representation of bodily injury suggests that the outcome of production is not success, but a body. A cool million is a riot, but behind lies the satire and tragedy. Miss lonelyhearts and a cool million quotes by nathanael west. It is an expressionist black comedy set in new york city during the great depression. In 1933, he was summoned to hollywood as a contract scriptwriter for columbia pictures. Nathanael west 19031940 perhaps the first thing to be said about a cool million is that it is not very good.
Nathanael didnt really appreciate the qualities of an academic education. Were considering expanding this synopsis into a fulllength study guide to deepen your comprehension of. A cool million, as its subtitle suggests, presents the dismantling of lemuel pitkin, piece by. There are multiple format available for you to choose pdf, epub, doc.
West s novel, a cool million, would attack, exposing the grinding greed underlying the capitalist cliches of the american dream. Now, almost a quartercentury after his death, west s literary reputation stands appreciably higher than. Read more about pdf epub a cool million download about pdf epub a cool million download. A cool million, written in 1934, is a satiric horatio alger story set in the midst of. 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. A cool million 1934 subtitled the dismantling of lemuel pitkin, is a satiric horatio alger story set in the midst of the depression and is written in a bracing, mockheroic style that has lost none of its wit or power. Nathanael west s novels, including miss lonelyhearts 1933, a cool million 1934, and the day of the locust 1939, used black comedy to create a bitter vision of an inhuman and brutal world and its depressing effects on his sensitive but ineffectual protagonists. Miss lonelyhearts, published in 1933, is nathanael west s second novel.
In this volume the library of america offers the most complete literary portrait ever published of nathanael west. The dream life of balso snell a cool million free ebook the dream life of balso snell a cool million by nathanael west across multiple fileformats including epub, doc, and pdf. The schlemiel is a stock figure of black humor fictionyossarian, billy pilgrim, benny profane, just for startersand can be traced as far back in american literature as lemuel pitkin, the allamerican designated victim who gets literally taken apart in nathanael west s depressionera demolishment of the horatio alger luckandpluck, a. His mother, a window, is approached by a lawyer and informed she. Lemuel is a poor farm boy with a widowed mother who goes off to seek his fortune and save his mothers house from foreclosure. Expertly formatted with a linked table of contents.
If you have previously read and enjoyed nathanael west s other novels, miss lonelyhearts and the day of the locust, you will know something of what to expect. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide. West, nathanael, a cool million, createspace independent publishing platform, 2014 lemuel pitkin is a young man finishing high school in a small town in vermont. Net login register for bookmarks and favorites menu login. Nathanael west was only thirtyseven when he died in 1940, but his depictions of the sometimes comic, sometimes horrifying aspects of the american scene rival those of william faulkner and flannery oconnor. None of west s three works were selling well, however, so he spent the mid1930s in financial difficulty, sporadically collaborating on screenplays. Camouflage of fragmentation and alienation in nathanael. Nathanael west s a cool million is necessary because its easy to laugh at lem losing his teeth or a thumb, to laugh at how he gets ripped off and swindled, and how shagpoke strings him along. Miss lonelyhearts is widely regarded as west s masterpiece. In 1934, he published a third novel, a cool million. Nathanael west s 1934 novel, a cool million satirizes american ideology by targeting rags to riches novels popularized by horatio alger through the story of lemuel pitkin. Nathanael west miss lonelyhearts and a cool million. Miss lonelyhearts nathanael west download ebook pdf. Paperback published in 1961, paperback, 1500389757 paperback published in 2014, 88067182 paperback published in 199.
In this book, nathanael west, a great american satirist, nearly laughs the horatio alger myth to death 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, bilked, thrown in jail, has lost his teeth, his eye, a leg, his scalp, and has witnessed a remarkable number of rapes and pol in this book. A cool million by nathanael west overdrive rakuten. Pdf epub a cool million download by nathanael west. Along with the four novels for which he is famous, this authoritative collection gathers his work in other genres, including stories, poetry, essays and. A cool million nathanael west was born nathan weinstein in new york city on october 17th, 1903. Then you can start reading kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer no kindle device.
He forged his high school transcript to gain admission to tufts and to get into brown university appropriated the transcript of a fellow tufts student who, conveniently, was also named nathan weinstein. West s third production was a cool million 1934 which burlesques the stock american success story. In a cool million 1934, west effectively mocks the american success dream popularized by horatio alger by portraying a hero who slides from bad to worse while doing the supposedly right thing. Click download or read online button to get miss lonelyhearts nathanael west book now. This is from a chapter describing the upbringing of his orphaned heroine, betty prail. Lemuel pitkin, a rural new england boy attempting to get on in the world, is slowly dismantled physically and mentally in a series of beatings, jailings and frauds. It cant happen here signet classics by sinclair lewis. In a cool million, west etches a classic parable of america in the chaotic thirties. By itself, it has no more claim to our attention than several dozen properly forgotten books of the thirties. Download a cool million by nathanael west in pdf epub format complete free. Miss lonelyhearts and a cool million 2000 read online. Download or read the collected works of nathanael west. A cool million book by clicking button below to visit the book download website. Although west had been writing since college, it was only at this job that he found enough time to write.
Enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app. Then you can start reading kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer no kindle device required. The dismantling of lemuel pitkin includes a complete plot overview spoilers included. Download our mobile app for onthego access to the jewish virtual library. The day of the locust by nathanael west download pdf. Galloway during his own lifetime nathanael west received little of the serious critical attention for which he consistently hungered. Austin state university presents a semantic analysis of nathanael west s a cool million.
Miss lonelyhearts and a cool million nathanael west. The dream life of balso snell 1931, west s first work, was described by one delighted critic as a fantasy about some rather scatalogical adventures. Along with the four novels for which he is famous, this authoritative collection gathers his work in other genres, including stories, poetry, essays and plays, film scripts and treatments, and letters. Because of this satire, the novel is important not only in what it exposes but also because it marks the turn in west s work to a much more specifically american literature. Miss lonelyhearts and a cool million 2000 about book. Miss lonelyhearts the day of the locust download pdf. The day of the locust is perhaps the most famous of his four novels as well as miss lonelyhearts, there was a cool million and the dream life of balso snell but it. Nathanael west was born nathan wallenstein weinstein. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Buy a cool million by nathanael west online at alibris. A cool million 1934 the day of the locust 1939 other links.
October 17, 1903 december 22, 1940 was an american author and screenwriter. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading a cool million. Rockefeller would give a cool million to have a stomach like yours. Miss lonelyhearts and a cool million quotes showing 17 of 7 at college, and perhaps for a year afterwards, they had believed in literature, had believed in beauty and. In his last years west worked as a screenwriter in hollywood.
1091 1387 1091 866 689 901 283 701 789 542 1252 1130 914 214 454 1270 223 109 1372 195 215 826 1255 708 43 809 238 848 62 252 1244 40 1041 525 579 1389 898 1457 1403 1333 902 779 10 1047 789 468 320 408 1442 348 1034