U.S.A. (trilogy)

U.S.A.
Author John Dos Passos
Country United States
Language English
Publisher Library of America
Media type Hardcover
Pages 1312 pages
ISBN 978-1-883011-14-7
OCLC 33819088
813.52 20
LC Class PS3507.O743 A6 1996

The U.S.A. Trilogy is a series of three novels by American writer John Dos Passos, comprising the novels The 42nd Parallel (1930), 1919 (1932) and The Big Money (1936). The books were first published together in a volume titled U.S.A. by Harcourt Brace in January 1938.

The trilogy employs an experimental technique, incorporating four narrative modes, fictional narratives telling the life stories of twelve characters, collages of newspaper clippings and song lyrics labeled "Newsreel", individually labeled short biographies of public figures of the time such as Woodrow Wilson and Henry Ford and fragments of autobiographical stream of consciousness writing labeled "Camera Eye". The trilogy covers the historical development of American society during the first three decades of the 20th century. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked U.S.A. 23rd on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

The four narrative modes

The separation between these narrative modes is rather a stylistic than a thematic one. Some critics have pointed out connections between the fictional character Mary French in The Big Money and journalist Mary Heaton Vorse, calling into question the strict separation between fictional characters and biographies. Coherent quotes from newspaper articles are often woven into the biographies as well, calling into question the strict separation between them and the "Newsreel" sections.

The fragmented narrative style of the trilogy later influenced the work of British science-fiction novelist John Brunner. It also influenced Jean-Paul Sartre's trilogy The Roads to Freedom.

Characters

Dos Passos portrays the everyday situations of the characters before, during, and after World War I, with special attention to the social and economic forces that drive them. Those characters who pursue "the big money" without scruple succeed, but are dehumanized by success. Others are destroyed, crushed by capitalism, and ground underfoot. Dos Passos does not show much sympathy for upwardly mobile characters who succeed, but is always sympathetic to the down and out victims of capitalist society. He explores the difficulty faced by winners and losers alike when trying to make a stable living for themselves as well as wanting to settle down in some means.

Adaptations

The novel has been adapted a number of times, for purposes such as radio and stage production. Paul Shyre created a "dramatic revue", working together with Dos Passos.[1] Howard Sackler also adapted it for a well-received 1968 audio production with Caedmon Books.[2]

Analysis

In his contemporary commentary on The 42nd Parallel and 1919, Michael Gold noted their qualities as extensions of Dos Passos' techniques in his earlier novel Manhattan Transfer, and described these novels as "one of the first collective novels".[3] Stanley Corkin has specifically expostulated The 42nd Parallel in the context of readings of Hegelian Marxism with respect to the particular historical time of the novel.[4] Arnold Goldman has commented on the "progressive disenfranchisement" of Dos Passos from 20th century America in the trilogy.[5] Justin Edwards has discussed the use of cinematic techniques in The Big Money.[6] Donald Pizer has discoursed in detail on the passage 'only words against POWER SUPERPOWER' in The Big Money.[7]

Janet Galligani Casey has analysed Dos Passos' treatment and development of the growth of his female characters in the trilogy.[8] Stephen Lock has examined the cinematic ideas behind Dos Passos' use of the 'Camera Eye' sections.[9]

Editions

Dos Passos had added a prologue with the title "U.S.A." to The Modern Library edition of The 42nd Parallel published the previous November and the same plates were used by Harcourt Brace for the trilogy.[10]:1254 Houghton Mifflin issued two boxed three-volume sets in 1946 with color endpapers and illustrations by Reginald Marsh.[10]:1256 The first illustrated edition was limited to 365 copies, 350 signed by both Dos Passos and Marsh in a deluxe binding with leather labels and beveled boards.[11][12] The binding for the larger 1946 trade issue was tan buckram with red spine lettering and the trilogy designation "U.S.A." printed in red over a blue rectangle on the spine and front cover.[13] The illustrated edition was reprinted in various bindings until the Library of America edition appeared in 1996, 100 years after Dos Passos' birth.[12][13]

References

  1. ↑ Shyre, Paul; Dos Passos, John (1960). USA: A Dramatic Revue. Samuel French. ISBN 9780573617362. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  2. ↑ Sackler, Howard. "42nd Parallel Radio Production, 1/6". SoundCloud. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Gold, Michael (February 1933). "The Education of John Dos Passos". The English Journal. 22 (2): 87–97. Retrieved 2016-11-06.
  4. ↑ Corkin, Stanley (Fall 1992). "John Dos Passos and the American Left: Recovering the Dialectic of History". Criticism. 34 (4): 591–611. Retrieved 2016-11-06.
  5. ↑ Goldman, Arnold (Spring 1970). "Dos Passos and His U.S.A.". New Literary History. 1 (3): 471–483. Retrieved 2016-11-06.
  6. ↑ Edwards, Justin (1999). "The Man with a Camera Eye: Cinematic Form and Hollywood Malediction in John Dos Passos's The Big Money". Literature/Film Quarterly. 27 (4): 245–254. Retrieved 2016-11-06.
  7. ↑ Pizer, Donald (Third Quarter, 1985). "The "only words against POWER SUPERPOWER" Passage in John Dos Passos' The Big Money". The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. 79 (3): 427–434. Retrieved 2016-11-06. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ↑ Casey, Janet Galligani (2005). ""Stories Told Sideways Out of the Big Mouth": Dos Passos's Bazinian Camera Eye". Literature/Film Quarterly. 33 (1): 20–27. Retrieved 2016-11-06.
  9. ↑ Lock, Stephen (Autumn 1995). "Historicizing the Female in U.S.A.: Re-Visions of Dos Passos's Trilogy". Twentieth Century Literature. 41 (3): 249–264. Retrieved 2016-11-06.
  10. 1 2 Dos Passos, John (1896–1970). U.S.A. Daniel Aaron & Townsend Ludington, eds. New York: Library of America, 1996. (chronology)
  11. ↑ LCCN 47-846 and OCLC 1 870 524
  12. 1 2 bookseller descriptions: copies for sale, December 2010, at ABEbooks, Alibris, Amazon, Biblio and elsewhere
  13. 1 2 personal copies of both editions
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