Nathanael West
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About
An American author, screenwriter, and satirist, he is particularly known for such novels as Miss Lonelyhearts and A Cool Million. His 1939 work, The Day of the Locust, is set in Great Depression-era Hollywood and was ranked by the Modern Library as one of the 100 Best English-Language Novels of the Twentieth Century.
Before Fame
He was a poor student who earned admission to Tufts College only by producing false high school academic records. He later used another student's Tufts transcript to gain admission to Brown University.
Trivia
He worked as a screenwriter for both Columbia Pictures and RKO Radio Pictures.
Family Life
He was born in New York City to Ashkenazi Jewish parents. He married Eileen McKenney in 1940.
Associated With
He worked on the script for the Alfred Hitchcock film, Suspicion.
