One Man's Initiation [Paperback]

John Dos Passos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1986

Based on the author's first-hand experience as an ambulance driver during World War I, this first novel is noteworthy for its vivid and colorful portrait of France at that time and for its passionate indictment of war. The author's disillusionment with war, for a time, turned him toward socialism and against capitalism. Finally, after being labeled "pro-German" and "pacifist," Dos Passos concluded that the quasi-religion of Marxism was far more brutal than "poor old Capitalism ever dreamed of." Reprinted from the unexpurgated original edition published by Cornell University Press in 1969.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Few reviewers and readers took note of 'One Man's Initiation, 1917' upon its initial appearance, but Dos Passos's personal tale of the carnage of war and his own survival as a volunteer ambulance driver over the battlefields of France and Italy in 1917speaks vividly to readers of the 21st century 'lest we forget.'>>> (Carr, Virginia Spencer )

I think Dos Passos came closer than any of us to writing the great American novel. 'One Man's Initiation: 1917' is one the exciting precursors.>>>> (Norman Mailer )

I think Dos Passos came closer than any of us to writing the great American novel. 'One Man's Initiation: 1917' is one the exciting precursors. (Norman Mailer )

Few reviewers and readers took note of 'One Man's Initiation, 1917' upon its initial appearance, but Dos Passos's personal tale of the carnage of war and his own survival as a volunteer ambulance driver over the battlefields of France and Italy in 1917 speaks vividly to readers of the 21st century 'lest we forget.' (Carr, Virginia Spencer )

About the Author

John Dos Passos (1896-1970), after graduating from Harvard in 1916, became an ambulance driver on the Western Front; which he would later use as a backdrop for his first two novels: One Man's Initiation: 1917 (1920) and Three Soldiers (1921). Dos Passos published the technically innovative U.S.A. trilogy, which consists of the novels The 42nd Parallel (1929), 1919 (1931), and The Big Money (1936). The U.S.A. trilogy confirmed Dos Passos's position in the American literary canon. Edmund Wilson hailed Dos Passos on the publication of U.S.A. trilogy as "The first of our writers-with the possible exception of Mark Twain-who has successfully used colloquial American for a novel of the highest artistic seriousness."

Product Details

• Paperback: 146 pages
• Publisher: University Press Of America (April 15, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0819153605
• ISBN-13: 978-0819153609
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,301,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Dos Passos (1896-1970), a member of the Lost Generation, was the author of more than forty works of fiction and nonfiction, including THREE SOLDIERS and MANHATTAN TRANSFER.