An American novelist and journalist, he is best known for The Anointed (1937) and The Great American Novel (1938). He published more than fifteen works over the course of his two-decade career. He quit school at the age of fourteen and worked a number of odd jobs, including printer 's apprentice, detective, chimney sweep, and electrician. He began writing for both The Denver Times and the Albuquerque Morning Journal in 1916.
