Lester Cohen
Writing
Biography
Lester Cohen (August 17, 1901 - July 17, 1963) was an American novelist, screenwriter and author of non-fiction. He is best known as the author of the novels Sweepings and Coming Home, and the screen play for Of Human Bondage. Cohen was the author of nine published books, two (or more) unpublished works (including The Fabulous World of Horace Liveright about the founder of Boni-Liveright Publishers and his circle, and Fallen Nation, an epic unfinished at the time of his death); six full-length stage plays, many short plays and scripts for television; poetry; articles and stories for periodicals; reviews and editorials for Variety; and many screen plays and treatments for motion pictures. Cohen was a member of the Dreiser Committee which visited the Kentucky coal fields in 1931 to document the labor struggles of Harlan County coal miners. John Dos Passos, Sherwood Anderson and other notable American writers were also on this committee and contributed to the written report produced by Dreiser. Cohen was a member of the League of American Writers, an affiliation of communists and communist sympathizers that was active between 1935 and 1943. It is uncertain how long he was a member or how deeply he was committed to communism. Cohen represented the American League for a Free Palestine at the first United Nations Conference in San Francisco in 1945. Cohen was a founding member of the Screen Writers’ Guild and was a member of the Authors’ Guild of America from 1926 to his death in 1963. He had no political or religious affiliations.
Known For
In the 1810s, an old maid poses as her own niece in order to teach her onetime beau a lesson.
Quality Street
In the fall of 1963, Eddie Birdlace is an 18-year-old Marine Corps volunteer who is about to ship out with three of his buddies for a tour of duty in Vietnam. Planning a massive blowout for their last night in San Francisco, Eddie, his buddies, and a number of other Marines set up a contest they call a "dogfight”.
Dogfight
Daniel Pardway, starting with almost nothing after the great Chicago fire, builds the biggest department store in town. He wants to pass on the business to his three sons and daughter, but has to deal with their lack of interest or aptitude.
Sweepings
A young man finds himself attracted to a cold and unfeeling waitress who may ultimately destroy them both.
Of Human Bondage
Dr. Eli Watt, a widower, comes to a small town, considering himself a failure in his attempt to have a meaningful career in New York. He raises his son Jimmy as well as Letty, a baby whose mother has died in childbirth and whose father blames Watt and abandons the child. Watt dreams of returning to do research studies, but always something gets in the way: an epidemic, his children's needs, or the needs of his generally ungrateful patients. Only with the passing years does he come to find that his future isn't over and his past isn't quite the failure he believed.
One Man's Journey
A doctor searches for the cure for nagana, the sleeping sickness caused by the tsetse fly.
Nagana
A young bareback rider in a circus is in love with a trapeze artist, but he has two problems: he drinks too much and he's fallen under the spell of a "vamp" who's nothing but trouble for him.
Dangerous Curves
A shop owner tries to interest his heirs in the family business.
Three Sons
Constance, a poor but aspiring composer, meets the great conductor, Franz, through their old music teacher. They fall in love, despite Constance knowing about Franz's weakness for pretty women.