U.S.A.: The 42nd Parallel / 1919 / The Big Money (Library of America) (Hardcover)

by John Dos Passos (Author), Townsend Ludington (Editor), Daniel Aaron (Editor) "when you walk along the street you have to step carefully always on the cobbles so as not to step on the bright anxious grassblades..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, The Camera Eye, Doc Bingham (more...)

Editorial Reviews

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.

Product 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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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1312 pages
• Publisher: Library of America; First Printing edition (August 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883011140
• ISBN-13: 978-1883011147
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #48,801 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Magnificent Tapestry, June 30, 2001

By	Gregory N. Hullender (Bellevue, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History of the First 30 Yaers of the 20th Century, May 27, 2002

By	"cmerrell" (Rosewll, GA United States) - See all my reviews

Dos Passos' trilogy is important reading for anyone intersted in American History. In particular, Dos Passos chronicles the history of the labor movement in the US and the revolt of working class worldwide.

It is intersting to note that at the time that this book was written, Dos Passos was a frevent socialist/communist. By the time of his death, he had renounced the communist idealogies for a more conservatine viewpoint.

Although, the fictional prose is simplistic and the dialogue somewhat cliched, a powerful story is told. The world is seen through the eyes of several ordinary citizens, all with different backgrounds and from different classes. The characters lives interwave through important world events such as labor unrest, Mexican revolution, World War 1, and the Russian Revolution.

Interwoven throughout the fiction are snippets that attempt to educate the reader. The 'Camera Eye' passages are newspaper headlines and attempt to capture the mood of the day. There are sections of Dos Passos's own thoughts of the day, some of them written as Dos Passos as a child might have seen them. My favorite sections were the short autobiographies of important citizens- among them Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Eugene Debs, Woodrow Wilsoon, and Emma Goldberg.

If you are lookiong for a passionate or suspenseful fictional story, this is not the book for you. But if you are intersted in history, especially American History, this book is excellent in capturing the mood of first third of the 20th century.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real history of America, September 7, 2002

By	Steve Weibel (Alpharetta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

I read this book first in 1967 while in high school, given to me by a teacher who wanted me to understand the real American History. When he told me an American general marched on World War One veterans in Washington, DC after WW I and killed many who were looking for veterans benefits I knew this book would be special. It delivers history in a most compelling and unique way, unlike any other book I've read. Americans don't know the whole truth of US History. These three books pick a period and educate, entertain, horrify and overwhelm you with our culture, our past, our politics. It is a must read for anyone remotely interested in US history. One of my favorite books of all time.