The Man with the Golden Arm (novel)

The Man with the Golden Arm

First edition
Author	Nelson Algren
Cover artist	'Karov'
Language	English
Published	1949 Doubleday
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback)
Pages	343 pp
OCLC	565975
LC Class	PS3501.L4625

The Man with the Golden Arm is a novel by Nelson Algren, published by Doubleday in November 1949. One of the seminal novels of post-World War II American letters, The Man with the Golden Arm is widely considered Algren's greatest and most enduring work. It won the National Book Award in 1950.^[1]

The novel details the trials and hardships of illicit card dealer "Frankie Machine", along with an assortment of colorful characters, on Chicago's Near Northwest Side. A veteran of World War II, Frankie struggles to stabilize his personal life while trying to make ends meet and fight a growing addiction to morphine. Much of the story takes place during the immediate postwar period along Division Street and Milwaukee Avenue in the old Polish Downtown.