John Dos Passos: A Twentieth-Century Odyssey

by Townsend Ludington

"This is a sound, very full, altogether welcome biography of one of the strangest careers in American letters." -- Alfred Kazin, The New York Times Book Review

"Ludington's fine, sweeping study . . . shows in full color Dos Passos the paradox, the self-contradiction, the eccentric of such proportions that the mere facts of his life would make arresting reading even if he had no particular genius." -- Washington Post Book World

Genres: Biography, Literature, Biography Memoir, History

608 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Jeff Bursey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always liked U.S.A. and this bio of Dos Passos, read for a second time, is better this go-round. Perhaps because of changes within me over the years (and because it's compared to a Lillian Hellman bio that was remarkably tone deaf) and due to a greater familiarity, now, with some of the subject matter. Thorough, written with enough attention paid to the books, the political matters, and aesthetics. Like most bios, the last decade is rushed through, but that approach seems like a rule. Well worth reading for those who've never read Dos Passos as much as for those who have.

[Ajith. T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Townsend Ludington has illustrated the early 20th century of America through the life of John Dos Passos. Passos is shown as a a good artist and a standard writer. The author has taken painstaking efforts in collecting various information and given unbiased view of America and Passos in the book. A worth reading huge book.