The Man with the Golden Arm (1949) - Nelson Algren Audiobook

Written by Nelson Algren
Read by Malcolm Hillgartner
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
Release date: 07-13-09
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Hero Francis Majcinek, called Frankie Machine, returns to Chicago from World War II with a Purple Heart and an addiction to morphine, which he relies on to overcome the pain of a war injury and to numb the guilt he feels for a drunken spree that put his wife, Sophie, in a wheelchair. His wife spends her dreary days making him feel guilty. Frankie, a shrewd dealer in a seedy West Side poker parlor, is known as the “Man with the Golden Arm,” both because of his rapid reflexes and his morphine habit. Frankie finds love and solace in Molly Novotny, a young part-time prostitute, but he remains trapped in his marriage and drug habit until he gets involved in an accidental killing and a not-so-accidental robbery that bring him to the fateful moment when the police come knocking to arrest him for his part in the killing.

Set in the gritty underbelly of post-WWII Chicago, Algren’s prize-winning novel tells of a group of likable losers, chief among them Frankie Machine–card dealer, drummer, and drug addict. We also get acquainted with Frankie’s whiny, wheelchair-bound wife, Sophie; his sweet girlfriend, Molly; the thief, Sparrow; and other denizens of Division Street as they struggle through life, often as their own worst enemies. Algren’s sympathy for his creations comes through in the reading. He gives each character voice; he makes each dialogue ring true. Man may be a “dark” tale, but it is laced with funny, tender scenes made more so in audio. Addiction, adultery, alcoholism, murder, and gambling all play a part, but they are filtered through fifty years of social and literary history. For those craving skillful writing sensitively read, this is a balm to the ears. AUDIOFILE

I’ve thrown in a track of Elmer Bernstein’s score for the 1955 movies staring Frank Sinatra. I’m not skilled at it so the quality is the best I can do for a 64-year-old LP.

P.S. Included the main title Walk on the Wild Side, the other Algren book on site. Straight off the disk, minus a few clicks.