The Day of the Locust

The Day of the Locust is the final novel by American author Nathanael West.

Fast Facts

1. Author: Nathanael West
2. Genre: Fiction
3. Publication Date: May 16, 1939
4. Publisher: Random House
5. Pages: 238
6. ISBN 978-0451523488
7. Adaptations: 1975 Movie starring Donald Sutherland and Karen Black

Plot Synopsis

Written against the conflicting backdrops of the Great Depression and the early film industry boom in Los Angeles in the late 1930s, The Day of the Locust is widely considered to be one of the best novels about Hollywood ever written. Haunted and consumed by the desperation of the industry and their own fading dreams, the book's characters have become stereotypes of Hollywood: an aspiring set painter, a self-obsessed starlet, an aging vaudevillian, a big-time producer, and a variety of other characters from the fringes of Hollywood.

Critical Reception

• "An unforgettable portrayal of a world that mocks the real and rewards the sham, turns its back on love to plunge into empty sex, and breeds a savage violence that is its own undoing, this novel stands as a classic indictment of all that is most extravagant and uncontrolled in American life." - Penguin Group

• "What 'The Day of the Locust' lacks in plot, it more than makes up for in character development. This short but powerful novel is about the Hollywood of the 1930s."Amazon.com user review

Categories