Summary: <p><span>The Depression-era novel </span><em>Miss Lonelyhearts</em><span>, by </span><b>Nathanael West</b><span>, has been called "</span><span>the purest expression of despair that American literature has produced, in any era." </span><span>As WNYC's Sara Fishko tells us in this <em>Fishko Files</em>, 80 years after the author's death the book - about the descent into darkness of an advice columnist - still rings true.</span></p> <p><span><em>Miss Lonelyhearts</em><span> </span>is available to </span><a href="https://www.mcnallyjackson.com/book/9780811218221" target="_blank" title="McNally Jackson">order</a><span><span> </span></span><a href="https://www.strandbooks.com/product/9780811202152?title=miss_lonelyhearts__the_day_of_the_locust" target="_blank" title="The Strand">online</a><span>.</span></p> <p>Jonathan Lethem's upcoming novel,<span> </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Arrest-Novel-Jonathan-Lethem/dp/0062938789" target="_blank" title="The Arrest">The Arrest</a>, will be published this November. You can find more Lethem on West in <a href="https://believermag.com/the-american-vicarious/" target="_blank" title='"The American Vicarious"'>"The American Vicarious"</a><span> </span>(The Believer, 2009).</p> <p>For more on Lowell Liebermann, visit his<span> </span><a href="https://www.lowellliebermann.com/" target="_blank" title="website">website</a>.</p> <p>Thanks to<span> </span><a href="https://www.wnyc.org/people/rex-doane/" target="_blank" title="Rex Doane">Rex Doane</a><span> </span>for lending his voice to our excerpts from <em>Miss Lonelyhearts</em>.</p>
