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John Dos Passos : U.S.A. : The 42nd Parallel 1919 The Big Money (Library of America)
Books: Travel: Bordeaux: Item 5
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John Dos Passos : U.S.A. : The 42nd Parallel 1919 The Big Money (Library of America)by John Dos Passos, Townsend Ludington, and Daniel Aaron
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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful: A Magnificent Tapestry, June 30, 2001 Reviewer:Greg Hullender (Bellevue, WA USA) - Lots of people try to find America. Dos Passos found the America of 1910-1930 and gave it to us, in almost 1300 pages spread across three novels - all collected in this one volume. He presents it to us as a tapestry, woven from four types of thread: stories focused on any of the 12 principle characters, actual news items from the period, biographical sketches of key figures from that time, and stream-of-consciousness narratives. It's dark and smoky, gritty and real. It's America. As the focus moves from character to character, we fall in love with all twelve of them, despite their flaws. They take us all over North America, and even to Europe for World War I. Rich and poor, male and female, worker, labor organizer, aviation millionaire or government official, all have their own stories to tell, and each represents a bit of America. Such a grand fabric contains many themes: drink destroys the great and the small alike, illicit sex seduces people into giving up their money, their families, and their health, and everyone takes advantage of the working man - even his so-called friends. Nevertheless, the book never seems to be making a moral point, and the characters don't come across as good or evil, heroes or villains; they're just people. One does become uncomfortably aware much the America of 100 years ago resembles the Third World countries of today. Read Rohinton Mistry's "A Fine Balance" to compare and contrast. This edition of USA (Library of America, Hardcover) combines all three novels into a single handy volume with decent explanatory notes, a built-in silk bookmark, and - best of all - a sewn binding that lies flat, despite the nearly 1300 pages.
From Library Journal
In honor of his centennial, Dos Passos is being drafted into the prestigious Library of America collection with his greatest work. This volume gathers the three novels known generically as USA?The 42nd Parallel (1930), 1919 (1932), The Big Money (1933)?along with scholarly notes and a chronology of the author's life. The Library of America edition of USA is undoubtedly among the finest ever published. Dos Passos couldn't have received a better birthday present. For all fiction collections.
Copyright 1996 Reed business Information, Inc.
Book Description
Unique for its epic scale and panoramic social sweep, Dos Passos' masterpiece comprises three novels--"The 42nd Parallel," "1919," and "The Big Money"--which create an unforgettable collective portrait of modern America. This one-volume edition includes detailed notes and a chronicle of the world events which serve as a backdrop.
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