The 42nd Parallel (U.S.A. #1) The 42nd Parallel discussion


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Does anyone know why Dos Passos titled it 42nd Parallel?

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James (JD) Dittes I couldn't find this in the reviews I read. Just wondering.


Stosch "The 42nd Parallel map is here. Also notable is obviously the title, decoded in a prefatory note in the first edition of The 42nd Parallel when it was published as a stand-alone novel in 1930; the title comes from "an 1865 book, American Climatology, which suggested that North American storms followed the 42nd Parallel. The novel seemed to follow its characters as if they were so many storms crossing the continent" (Michael Denning, The Cultural Front, 190).


James (JD) Dittes Interesting, and from such an obscure source.


Stosch @ first i thought maybe it was a battle line in europe. then i thought maybe the 42nd runs through the breadbasket and NY it sorta united the country, i was wrong.


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Ron Peters James (JD) wrote: "I couldn't find this in the reviews I read. Just wondering."

The 42nd parallel also passes right through Chicago.


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