U.S.A. by John Dos Passos

[Liz M]

Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The three novels collected as U.S.A. are the most successful of many 20th century attempts to write the inclusive story of American life.... Dos Passos is not a 19th century naturalist but a modernist, and the speech of the people is embedded in a narrative that derives from James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, and Ernest Hemingway."

What a monumental work! U.S.A. attempts to create the story of a nation over a period of 30 years in a method that I can best describe as a collage, or to choose a Hollywood allusion, a montage. There is no story here, per se, instead the narrative is composed of several different types of writing. The bulk of the novel is vignettes from the lives of twelve individuals, six men and six women. Initially they are from different parts of the country and different backgrounds, but their stories interweave in unexpected ways. Interspersed with the characters, there are Newsreels -- snippets of headlines and news stories smooshed together, The Camera Eye -- a stream-of-conscious perspective, supposedly autobiographical, and finally there are biographies -- mini portraits of influential figures of the times.

While I understand the structure and its purpose, I was really not interested in the Newsreels or the Camera Eye sections. Perhaps they were more evocative at the time the novel was published, but I found them so obtuse that they did not provide context for the more narrative aspects. For me, the final installment of the trilogy proved how comprehensive the work is -- I was delighted to find a reference to my small, Minnesotan, liberal-arts college in one of the biography sections!

It was in the characters' stories that Dos Passos' brilliance shone. They were compelling and well-done. One woman's narrative, begun when she was a child, had the language evolve as she grew up. And I was fascinated by how the characters lives weave together and how a main character becomes a bit player or just a passing mention in another character's chapter. But in the end, it had become too much -- even the characters that were doing well were ruinous. I was just so tired of the more upright individuals being ground down by poverty and the ne'er-do-wells drinking and gambling away their good fortunes. An impressive work, but too much of a good thing.

[Diane]

Rating: 4 stars


A trilogy of three novels that chronicle historical events of the first three decades of the 20th century. The characters come of age during the course of the three volumes. Dos Passos incorporates a variety of different imagery and devices, including newspaper headlines, songs, and signs that help to create the sense of time and place. Each book picks up seamlessly where the other leaves off. The books give an accurate depiction of the trials and tribulations of working class life in early-20th century America.

[Amanda]

4 stars for me as well. Was greatly impressed with the scope of the work and the way it hit on so many aspects of American life throughout the time covered.

It includes everything from popular WWI songs, to the story of Isadora Duncan, to a lot of plot devoted to the US socialist and labour movement (something that people may have forgotten about being a huge part of the fabric of US history- perhaps until lately when it has emerged again).

Great book.