"Once more I have been impressed by Algren's talent, his probity, and his command of a tough language that he transforms into a raw and bleeding poetry."
–The Nation "Mr. Algren, boy are you good–one of the two best authors in America."
–Ernest Hemingway "Since the publication of
The Neon Wilderness ... Nelson Algren has been acknowledged as a master of that American Realism touched with poetry, which attempts to give voice to the insulted and injured. He is a philosopher of deprivation, a moral force of considerable dimensions and a wonderful user of the language."
–Donald Barthelme "When I first read
The Neon Wilderness I was knocked out and the funny thing is, as I re-read it I was KO'd again. That's the thing: Nelson's stories are part of our lasting literature. They don't fade away."
–Studs Terkel, from the Afterword "Algren's short stories are now generally acknowledged to be literary triumphs."
–New York Times