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Title: Never Come Morning

Author: Nelson Algren

Narrator: Stefan Rudnicki

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-13-09

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Bruno Bicek, "Lefty," is a prizefighter and small-time hood in Chicago. Boxing is his ticket to escape hard times and gang life, but when Bruno doesn't prevent the brutal gang rape of his girlfriend, Steffi, it tears them apart, their worlds changed forever. Bruno is sent to jail and Steffi to a brothel governed by the brutality of a local crime boss, The Barber. Sinister and dark, The Barber controls Steffi and has no intention of letting her go. Why should he, when he holds all the cards? Bruno and Steffi, who dream of breaking free, learn this in the end and find that for them there will be no bright morning.

©1987 the Estate of Nelson Algren; (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews:

"The best book to come out of Chicago." (Ernest Hemingway)

"An unusual book and a brilliant book." (New York Times)

Members Reviews:

Enlightening

This book have me a much better understanding of my parents. Chicago was really a different place back then and in their neighborhood.

Flawed, but.......

There is some beautiful writing in this novel. However, the fight at the end is too extended. Character development is uneven. But it accurately depicts Chicago in the early 20th century. It creates a great sense of place with characteristic dialogue. This novel is worth your time from an author who deserves a wider audience.

Not as good as I had hoped

I expected better, particularly because I grew up in the neighborhoods in Chicago described in the book. I found the dialogue often tedious.

Dark and gritty. A work of transition.

Bruno Bicek and Steffi R. have dreams beyond the reality of their Chicago existence and the nightmarish control of the Barber, Bonifacy Konstantine. Bruno Bicek is a boxing contender and Steffi R. is the girlfriend he let be gang-raped. The Barber knows this and that Bruno Bicek has murdered one of the gang. The Barber has Steffi R. in his grasp and has no intention of letting her go. Bruno Bicek feels sure of his chances and intends taking her from him. But the Barber holds all the cards and, for Bruno Bicek and Steffi R. there will be no bright morning.

Never Come Morning has its moments: the fight scenes at the start and end of the book; the scenes in which the characters consider their lives, in a style that will be made much use of in The Man with the Golden Arm. Everything else is dark and gritty, but is not especially effective within the story because of its apparent inclusion for the sake of something anecdotal in order to flesh out the characters' traits and thoughts. In addition, Nelson Algren makes reading this book a chore like he did with The Man with the Golden Arm, by having rapid changes of viewpoint in scenes with a multiplicity of characters. This would have been quite benign given a more omniscient writing style like Fritz Leiber's, but is very distracting here.

Nevertheless, Never Come Morning is engaging, and, taken in overview, is a very satisfactory read, which demonstrates the power in Nelson Algren's writing. A power that in subsequent works, grows and grows.

Three Stars

I had a problem with the AZ1 format of the file.