Nathan Weinstein, also known as Nathanael West, was born to a wealthy Manhattan real estate developer, with his Russian Jewish mother having a significant influence on his life and work. Despite being raised with a sense of entitlement, the Great Depression had a profound impact on his perspective. West was fascinated by Russian novels and decided to pursue a career as an author, dreaming of a life in Paris, the intellectual hub of the 1920s, where he could rub shoulders with the likes of James Joyce and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
However, his 4-month trip to Paris was largely spent engaging in sexual debauchery and attempting to pass himself off as a literary flaneur. Upon his return to New York, West struggled to make a name for himself as a writer, with his short stories repeatedly rejected by magazines and his first novel selling only 500 copies. His second novel, "Miss Lonelyhearts", received critical acclaim but suffered from poor sales after the publisher went bankrupt.
Faced with financial instability and a lack of success, West turned to Hollywood, where he became a screenwriter and script doctor, finding financial stability and a structured work environment. As a novelist, West was ahead of his time, with his characters defying the traditional norms of the era. He made it his conscious goal to be unlike anyone else and to push the boundaries of his writing.
In 1940, West married 27-year-old Eileen McKenney, who would later be immortalized in his novel "My Sister Eileen". The couple's life was tragically cut short in a car accident, with West, who was a poor driver, crashing into an intersection in El Centro, California, while returning from a hunting trip.
