John Dos Passos
Born 1896 · Died 1970
From Chicago, Illinois, United States · Nationality: United States · Writes fiction and nonfiction
John Roderigo Dos Passos (January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his U.S.A. trilogy. In 1920, his first novel, One Man's Initiation: 1917, was published, and in 1925, his novel Manhattan Transfer became a commercial success. His U.S.A. trilogy, which consists of the novels The 42nd Parallel (1930), 1919 (1932), and The Big Money (1936), was ranked by the Modern Library in 1998 as 23rd of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Written in experimental, non-linear form, the trilogy blends elements of biography and news reports to paint a landscape of early 20th-century American culture.
Quotes
“The mind of a generation is its speech. A writer makes aspects of that speech enduring by putting them in print. He whittles at the words and phrases of today and makes of them forms to set the mind of tomorrow’s generation.”
Introduction to 1932 Modern Library edition of Three Soldiers “Humanity has a strange fondness for following processions. Get four men following a banner down the street, and, if that banner is inscribed with rhymes of pleasant optimism, in an hour, all the town will be afoot, ready to march to whatever tune the leaders care to play.”
"A Humble Protest," Harvard Monthly, 1916 “A satirist is a man whose flesh creeps so at the ugly and the savage and the incongruous aspects of society that he has to express them as brutally and nakedly as possible to get relief.”
"Grosz Comes to America," Esquire, 1936 “There is a part of me in every character, naturally. That’s why novelists rarely write good autobiographies. You start one and it becomes another novel - bound to.”
"An Interview with Mr. John Dos Passos," New York Times, Nov 23 1941
Quotes from Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Books by John Dos Passos in order
Books by John Dos Passos in the order they were published, from One Man's initiation--1917 (1920) to Rosinante to the Road Again (2011).
- 1One Man's initiation--1917
One Man's initiation--19171920 - 2Three Soldiers
Three Soldiers1921 - 3Streets of Night
Streets of Night1923 - 4Manhattan Transfer
Manhattan Transfer1925 - 5The 42nd Parallel
The 42nd Parallel1930 - 6U.S.A
U.S.A1930 - 7The Big Money
The Big Money1936 - 8First Encounter
First Encounter1945 - 9El numero uno
El numero uno1946 - 10The Prospect Before Us
The Prospect Before Us1950 - 11District of Columbia
District of Columbia1952 - 12Most Likely to Succeed
Most Likely to Succeed1954 - 13The Theme Is Freedom
The Theme Is Freedom1956 - 14Midcentury
Midcentury1961 - 15Brazil on the Move
Brazil on the Move1963 - 16Travel Books and Other Writings
Travel Books and Other Writings2003 - 17One Man's Initiation
One Man's Initiation2007 - 18Orient Express
Orient Express2011 - 19Rosinante to the Road Again
Rosinante to the Road Again2011 - 20Afterglow and Other Undergraduate Writings
Afterglow and Other Undergraduate Writings - 21Century's Ebb
Century's Ebb - 22Fourteenth Chronicle: Letters and Diaries of John Dos Passos
Fourteenth Chronicle: Letters and Diaries of John Dos Passos - 23John Dos Passos' Correspondence with Arthur K. McComb, or, "
John Dos Passos' Correspondence with Arthur K. McComb, or, "Learn to Sing the Carmagnole"