John Dos Passos’s Followers (604)

John Dos Passos

Born

in Chicago, Illinois, The United States

January 14, 1896

Died

September 28, 1970

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Poetry

Influences

Daniel Defoe, Thackeray, James Joyce, Blaise Cendrars, Ezra Pound, T.S ...more

edit data

John Dos Passos was a prominent American novelist, artist, and political thinker best known for his U.S.A. trilogy—The 42nd Parallel, 1919, and The Big Money—a groundbreaking work of modernist fiction that employed experimental narrative techniques to depict the complexities of early 20th-century American life. Born in Chicago in 1896, he was educated at Harvard and served as an ambulance driver during World War I, experiences that deeply influenced his early literary themes. His first novel, One Man’s Initiation: 1917, and the antiwar Three Soldiers drew on his wartime observations and marked him as a major voice among the Lost Generation.
Dos Passos’s 1925 novel Manhattan Transfer brought him widespread recognition and introduced stylistic John Dos Passos was a prominent American novelist, artist, and political thinker best known for his U.S.A. trilogy—The 42nd Parallel, 1919, and The Big Money—a groundbreaking work of modernist fiction that employed experimental narrative techniques to depict the complexities of early 20th-century American life. Born in Chicago in 1896, he was educated at Harvard and served as an ambulance driver during World War I, experiences that deeply influenced his early literary themes. His first novel, One Man’s Initiation: 1917, and the antiwar Three Soldiers drew on his wartime observations and marked him as a major voice among the Lost Generation.
Dos Passos’s 1925 novel Manhattan Transfer brought him widespread recognition and introduced stylistic innovations that would define his later work. His U.S.A. trilogy fused fiction, biography, newsreel-style reportage, and autobiographical “Camera Eye” sections to explore the impact of capitalism, war, and political disillusionment on the American psyche. Once aligned with leftist politics, Dos Passos grew increasingly disillusioned with Communism, especially after the murder of his friend José Robles during the Spanish Civil War—a turning point that led to a break with Ernest Hemingway and a sharp turn toward conservatism.
Throughout his career, Dos Passos remained politically engaged, writing essays, journalism, and historical studies while also campaigning for right-leaning figures like Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon in the 1960s. He contributed to publications such as American Heritage, National Review, and The Freeman, and published over forty books including biographies and historical reflections. Despite political shifts, his commitment to liberty and skepticism of authoritarianism remained central themes.
Also a visual artist, Dos Passos created cover art and illustrations for many of his own books, exhibiting a style influenced by modernist European art. Though less acclaimed for his painting, he remained artistically active throughout his life. His multidisciplinary approach and innovations in narrative structure influenced numerous writers and filmmakers, from Jean-Paul Sartre to Norman Mailer and Adam Curtis.
Later recognized with the Antonio Feltrinelli Prize for literature in 1967, Dos Passos’s legacy endures through his literary innovations and sharp commentary on American identity. He died in 1970, leaving behind a vast and diverse body of work that continues to shape the landscape of American fiction. ...more

Combine Editions
John Dos Passos’s books

Average rating: 3.84 · 30,094 ratings · 2,613 reviews · 225 distinct works • Similar authors

	The 42nd Parallel (U.S.A. #1) 3.82 avg rating — 7,918 ratings — published 1930 — 139 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Manhattan Transfer 3.64 avg rating — 7,371 ratings — published 1925 — 259 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	U.S.A.: The 42nd Parallel / 1919 / The Big Money by John Dos Passos, Daniel Aaron (Editor), Townsend Ludington (Editor) 4.12 avg rating — 5,030 ratings — published 1930 — 99 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	1919 (U.S.A., #2) 3.97 avg rating — 3,341 ratings — published 1932 — 114 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Big Money (U.S.A., #3) 4.02 avg rating — 3,028 ratings — published 1936 — 95 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Three Soldiers 3.55 avg rating — 1,381 ratings — published 1921 — 248 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	One Man's Initiation: 1917 3.39 avg rating — 627 ratings — published 1920 — 163 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mr. Wilson's War: From the Assassination of McKinley to the Defeat of the League of Nations 3.92 avg rating — 221 ratings — published 1962 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Best Times: An Informal Memoir 3.93 avg rating — 178 ratings — published 1966 — 31 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	El numero uno 3.30 avg rating — 100 ratings — published 1943 — 34 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by John Dos Passos…

Series by John Dos Passos

The U.S.A. Trilogy (3 books)
by

John Dos Passos

3.96 avg rating — 19,317 ratings

District of Columbia (4 books)
by

John Dos Passos

3.52 avg rating — 183 ratings

Quotes by John Dos Passos (?)

“We work to eat to get the strength to work to eat to get the strength to work.”
― John Dos Passos

63 likes

“If there is a special Hell for writers it would be in the forced contemplation of their own works, with all the misconceptions, the omissions, the failures that any finished work of art implies.”
― John Dos Passos

40 likes

“I never see the dawn that I don't say to myself perhaps.”
― John Dos Passos

28 likes

See all John Dos Passos's quotes »

Polls

June 2025 New School Poll

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (2001) 487 pages

45 votes, 23.1%

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain (1936) 116 pages, last read January 2019

37 votes, 19.0%

The Quiet American by Graham Greene (1955) 180 pages

34 votes, 17.4%

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (1983) 138 pages

31 votes, 15.9%

Peyton Place by Grace Metalious (1956) 372 pages

18 votes, 9.2%

Manhatten Transfer by John Dos Passos (1925) 342 pages

17 votes, 8.7%

Nightwood by Djuna Barnes (1936) 182 pages

13 votes, 6.7%

195 total votes

comments and details

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Books on the Nigh...: Just the Facts...tidbits about Authors	57	97	Jan 30, 2012 10:41AM
Reading with Style: WI 11-12 CiV questions & answers	87	79	Feb 24, 2012 07:24AM
Reading with Style: WI 11-12 Completed Tasks	1093	415	Feb 29, 2012 08:44PM
The Seasonal Read...: Winter Challenge 2011: Completed Tasks -DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC	2866	792	Feb 29, 2012 09:03PM
Book Nook Cafe: Freedom From Fear- David M. Kennedy- January 2012	353	96	Jul 11, 2012 06:10AM
The Seasonal Read...: * Summer Challenge 2012: Tasks	12	703	Jul 19, 2012 06:58AM
The Seasonal Read...: 20.3 - Best Review - Anne (booklady)'s task: Reading...by the Numbers	67	115	Aug 21, 2012 04:16AM
Fiction Fanatics: Next 5 reads	131	299	Oct 05, 2012 08:33AM

More…

John Dos Passos’s Followers (604)

John Dos Passos

Combine EditionsJohn Dos Passos’s books

Series by John Dos Passos

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
John Dos Passos’s books