Albert Maltz, A Long Day in a Short Life

Patrick Chura (University of Akron)

Ed. by Patrick Chura, University of Akron
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1957

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

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A Long Day in a Short Life,

set in the Washington D.C. jail and originally published in 1957, was boycotted by Cold War-era commercial publishers because its author was an alleged communist. Had it been embraced rather than suppressed, it might have become a canonical work in civil-rights era U.S. literature. The novel was out of print for decades before its re-release by the British publisher Alma Books in 2023, followed by an audio version from Naxos AudioBooks in 2024.

Albert Maltz’s desire to write a prison novel did not begin with his incarceration in 1950 for refusing to answer the question, “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” in testimony before a congressional committee. His interest in crime and punishment was formed much earlier. In 1926,

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2382 words

Citation: Chura, Patrick. "A Long Day in a Short Life". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 August 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41563, accessed 23 November 2024.]

Albert Maltz, A Long Day in a Short Life

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