Vonnegut on Algren

from Kurt Vonnegut: Letters, edited by Dan Wakefield (Delacorte Press, 2012) 

read Josh Alan Friedman's memories of Nelson Algren here.

Josh Alan Friedman on Nelson Algren

"He is not just a writer, but a Guardian Literary Angel, a Symbol, a counterweight to the corporatocracy. In his last years, he emphasized this, and I quote: “Big Business Kills.” Well, maybe we need standardization and assembly lines to build automobiles, but the sphere of this domination seems so powerful and out-of-whack, it throws off the balance of life. “Big Business Kills.” Those words echo in every bank bailout, every Enron and Bernie Madoff scandal that rapes a million people, every soulless concrete and glass skyscraper that uglifies the skylines of American cities."

Josh Alan Friedman's speech honoring Nelson Algren from last week's 102nd birthday party celebrating the late writer is now on Black Cracker Online. Click here to read it in its entirety.

Josh Alan will present Black Cracker (along with a short set of atomic acoustic guitar) this week at Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee and Quimby's in Chicago. For details, click here.

Josh Alan Friedman to honor Nelson Algren in Chicago

The Nelson Algren Committee has invited Josh Alan Friedman to speak at their annual Nelson Algren Birthday Party on Saturday, March 26. The event will be held at the Wicker Park Arts Center, 2215 W. North Avenue in Chicago's Wicker Park/Bucktown neighborhood.

Festivities begin at 8 pm. Admission is $10 at the door, $7 for seniors and students with ID. Drink tickets are available to those wishing to toast Algren; complimentary snacks and door prize drawings add to the fun.

Full event details (and more on Algren) can be found on the Committee's website, here.

Algren's 1967 mugshot

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Click here for Josh's full schedule in the Midwest.

Black Cracker by Josh Alan Friedman is available NOW; signed copies are available here.