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James T. Farrell, the socially engaged writer who penned one of the classics of American fiction, the "Studs Lonigan" trilogy, was born into a working-class Irish-American Catholic family in Chicago on February 27, 1904. While attending the University of Chicago, he decided to become a writer. Over the years he suffered great hardships to remain committed to his avocation of being a non-commercial writer who chronicled his class and country.
Farrell made his name writing novels and short stories about the working-class Irish on the South Side of Chicago, based on his own experiences. In his naturalistic style he attempted to expose the false consciousness of working people in a capitalist society that crushes them and distorts their lives. His theme was that people's destiny largely was shaped by the environment in which they live.
Farrell's most famous character, the Irish-American streetwise Studs Lonigan, shared many of his creator's own life experiences, but was not as intelligent or sensitive. In three novels, beginning with "Young Lonigan" in 1932, followed by "The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan" in 1934 and "Judgment Day" in 1935, Studs lives, loves and eventually dies. The trilogy was very influential on other writers, including a young Norman Mailer.
The "Studs Lonigan" trilogy eventually was made into a film in 1960 (Studs Lonigan (1960)) and an Emmy Award-winning television miniseries in 1979 (Studs Lonigan (1979), the year that Farrell died in New York City. He was 73 years old.
