“Why don’t you give them something new and hopeful? Tell them about art. Here, I’ll dictate:
“Art Is a Way Out.
“Do not let life overwhelm you. When the old paths are choked with the debris of failure, look for newer and fresher paths. Art is just such a path. Art is distilled from suffering. As Mr. Polnikoff exclaimed through his fine Russian beard, when, at the age of eighty-six, he gave up his business to learn Chinese, ‘We are, as yet, only at the beginning…
“Art Is One of Life’s Richest Offerings.
“For those who have not the talent to create, there is appreciation. For those…
“Go on from there.”
Nathaniel West, Miss Lonleyhearts

In December 1940 Nathaniel West and his wife Eileen
were killed in a car crash in the middle of a lettuce field
as they drove to his friend and mentor,
F. Scott Fitgerald’s funeral
He was 37, she was 27.

Nathanael West in a letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald,
a year before their deaths
discussed the reaction to his last novel, The Day of the Locust:

“The box score stands: Good reviews— fifteen per cent, bad reviews—twenty five per cent, brutal personal attacks—sixty percent. Sales: practically none.

I’ll try another one anyway, I guess.”—

Neither West nor Fitzgerald wrote “another one”