Algren will spotlight the hard-knock life and authentic creative legacy of one of the most underrated writers of the twentieth century, Nelson Algren. Algren's brutally honest portrayal of the American underclass and his hard-nosed lifestyle became his pathway to compassion. Through interviews with Algren contemporaries, experts, and "literary soulmates," as well as through the photography of Algren's friends, Art Shay and Stephen Deutch, the film will tell his story. It will celebrate his tremendous contribution to and influence on American letters, and push Algren, champion of the marginalized, out from the margins.
Russell Banks was an American writer of fiction and poetry. As a novelist, Banks was best known for his detailed accounts of domestic strife and the daily struggles of ordinary often-marginalized characters. His stories usually revolved around his own childhood experiences, and often reflect "moral themes and personal relationships."