Biography: Nathanael West (born Nathan Weinstein; October 17, 1903 – December 22, 1940) was an American author and screenwriter. He is remembered for two darkly satirical novels: Miss Lonelyhearts (1933) and The Day of the Locust (1939), set respectively in the newspaper and Hollywood film industries. Description above from the Wikipedia article Nathanael West, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.