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1940年12月,犹太裔美国作家纳森内尔·韦斯特(Nathanael West)和妻子一天正从墨西哥驱车赶回洛杉矶。在加利福尼亚的埃尔森特罗附近,他们出了致命的车祸。当时韦斯特年仅三十七,是四本惊世骇俗小说的作者。此前五年,韦斯特一直为电影公司写脚本,穷愁潦倒的生活刚有转机。韦斯特写的最好的小说《寂寞芳心小姐》出版于1933年,《蝗虫之日》出版于1939年。直到1957年,美国批评界才开始认真对待这位异乎寻常的作家。他的另两本小说是《巴尔索新内尔的梦幻生活》和《冷酷的百万》。有关韦斯特作品最溢美的赞扬出自哈罗德布鲁姆。他说
In December 1940, Nathanael West, a Jewish American writer, and his wife drove back to Los Angeles from Mexico on one day. Near El Centro, California, they had a fatal car accident. At that time, West only thirty-seven, is the author of four shocking novel. The previous five years, West has been writing for the movie company script, poor life just turning point. Wester’s best novel “Miss Lonely Hearts” was published in 1933, “Locust Day” published in 1939. It was not until 1957 that American critics began to take this exotic writer seriously. His other two novels are “The Dream Life of Balsov Newell” and “Ruthless Million”. The most glorious compliment about West’s work comes from Harold Broome. He said