Nathanael West's fourth and longest novel, together with
Miss Lonelyhearts,
establishes his claim to
permanent attention as a first-rate literary artist and analyst of twentieth-century American life, an
achievement which had its genesis during West's five years of close observation of Hollywood in the
first decade of talking pictures. West went to Hollywood in 1933 as a screenwriter, and except for a
few brief trips, he spent most of his remaining life there. He lived in a rundown apartment house, like
the one described in
The Day of the Locust,
and he was a close observer of the city's varied
denizens and pretentious decor. Hollywood was becoming the nation's "dream factory," as a famous
anthropologist called it years later, both through its products and the hopes which it held out to the
many who dreamed of successfully becoming glamorous actors and actresses or juvenile stars. The
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- Fall '11
- Staff
- The Day of the Locust, Miss Lonelyhearts, rundown apartment house, pretentious decor. Hollywood, firstrate literary artist, twentiethcentury American life, fantasy world. Tod
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