U.S.A. - The Big Money - A Note on the Author of "U.S.A."

Aug 25, 2026

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U.S.A. presents John Dos Passos’s ambitious trilogy as an integrated literary pattern of contemporary American life, uniting The 42nd Parallel, Nineteen Nineteen, and The Big Money. The text profiles Dos Passos’s formation, education in Chicago and at Harvard, wartime service, and his reputation as a novelist and social commentator. It also introduces a portrait of a young man moving through night streets searching for work, jobs, and human connection, while the broader U.S.A. is framed as a continent-shaped system of institutions, companies, unions, laws, and communications.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages1479

Reading Time37 h 58 min

AccessFree to download

I.The Big Money

A Note on the Author of "U.S.A."

I.The 42nd ParallelII.Nineteen Nineteen # I.The Big Money BY JOHN DOS PASSOS THE MODERN LIBRARY Thuis lock r preunled hy overnmenl of the /niled Sates as an ap ” Friendship ecpnle of the Wluiled 、9iale'the fiauauxd he 2cfule af Sndliu >>>>>>>>> The publishers will be pleased to send,uponrequest,an illustrated folder seting forththe purpose and scope of THE MODERNLIBRARY,and listing each volume in theseries.Every reader of books will find titleshe has beenlooking for,handsomely printed,in unabridged editions,and at anunusually low price. >>>>>>>>>> THE MODERN LI BRARY 1 s PU B LI S H E D B Y R A N D O M H O U S E,IN C. BENNETT A.CERF · DONALD S.KLOPFER · ROBERT K.HAAS eManufactured in the United States of AmericaBy H.Wolf # JOHN DOS PASSOS(1896- ) A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR OF"U.S.A." By far the most ambitious undertaking of John Dos Passos'career as a writer is the trilogy,U.S.A.The three novels,The42nd Parallel,Nineteen Nineteen and The Big Money,arebrought together in one volume,thus fulflling the author'soriginal intention of making these three panels an integrated lit-erary pattern of contemporary American life. Born in Chicago,John Dos Passos received his early educationthere and was graduated from Harvard University cum laude inI916.Immediately afterward he served with the Harjes,theRed Cross and the U.S.A.Ambulance Services during the WorldWar.His novel,Three Soldiers,issued in I921(Modern Li-brary No.205),remains today one of the few war books tosurvive as living literature.Since its appearance,each new workof fiction has advanced John Dos Passos'development,and todayhe is acknowledgedly one of the world's foremost novelists.As aparticipant in the American social struggle,notably as a cham-pion of Sacco and Vanzetti,Dos Passos'record is quite as distin-guished as is his achievement in the role of social commentatorand novelist. The young man walks fast by himself through thecrowd that thins into the night streets;feet are tiredfrom hours of walking;eyes greedy for warm curve offaces,answering ficker of eyes,the set of a head,thelift of a shoulder,the way hands spread and clench;blood tingles with wants;mind is a beehive of hopesbuzzing and stinging;muscles ache for the knowledgeof jobs,for the roadmender's pick and shovel work,thefisherman's knack with a hook when he hauls on theslithery net from the rail of the lurching trawler,theswing of the bridgeman's arm as he slings down thewhitehot rivet,the engineer's slow grip wise on thethrottle,the dirtfarmer's use of his whole body when,whoaing the mules,he yanks the plow from the fur-row.The young man walks by himself searchingthrough the crowd with greedy eyes,greedy ears tautto hear,by himself,alone. The streets are empty.People have packed intosubways,climbed into streetcars and buses;in the sta-tions they've scampered for suburban trains;they'vefiltered into lodgings and tenements,gone up in eleva-tors into apartmenthouses.In a showwindow two sal-low windowdressers in their shirtsleeves are bringingout a dummy girl in a red evening dress,at a cornerwelders in masks lean into sheets of blue flame repair-ing a cartrack,a few drunk bums shamble along,a sadstreetwalker fidgets under an arclight.From the rivercomes the deep rumbling whistle of a steamboat leav-ing dock.A tug hoots far away. The young man walks by himself,fast but notfast enough,far but not far enough(faces slide out ofsight,talk trails into tattered scraps,footsteps tap fainter in alleys);he must catch the last subway,thestreetcar,the bus,run up the gangplanks of all thesteamboats,register at all the hotels,work in the cities,answer the wantads,learn the trades,take up the jobs,live in all the boardinghouses,sleep in all the beds.One bed is not enough,one job is not enough,one lifeis not enough.At night,head swimming with wants,he walks by himself alone. No job,no woman,no house,no city. Only the ears busy to catch the speech are notalone;the ears a

FAQs

What trilogy does U.S.A. bring together?

U.S.A. brings together three novels—The 42nd Parallel, Nineteen Nineteen, and The Big Money—into one integrated volume.

How does the text describe John Dos Passos’s aim as a writer?

It presents his trilogy as a unified, integrated literary pattern capturing contemporary American life through three related panels.

What is the central focus of the passage about the young man?

The young man walks through thinning crowds and empty streets driven by wants, searching for jobs and ways to connect with work and a life.

How is the United States framed in the passage at the end?

U.S.A. is described as both a slice of a continent and a network of holding companies, laws, unions, communications, and other institutions.

Aug 25, 2026

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