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Midcentury
Midcentury sees Dos Passos reclaim and tweak slightly the narrative techniques utilized in U.S.A. Again, he skewers America’s power elite and the forces of mechanization and materialism. He rebukes the institutions—labor, government, and corporations—that create a nation where “man drowns in his own scum.”
In addition to Dos Passos’s classic kaleidoscopic narrative techniques, the satirical novel features biographical sketches of Douglas MacArthur, Jimmy Hoffa, John L. Lewis, Eleanor Roosevelt, James Dean, and Samuel Goldwyn.
Midcentury enjoys fifteen weeks as a New York Times bestseller Wall Street Journal calls it “…a sudden infusion and heightening of all his many skills as novelist, poet and dramatic narrator of historical fact. Dos Passos has come forth with the most satisfying work of his long career.” The New York Times Book Review calls it “one of the few genuinely good American novels of recent years.” Time declares it “the best novel from Dos Passos since his U.S.A. trilogy.”
In addition to Dos Passos’s classic kaleidoscopic narrative techniques, the satirical novel features biographical sketches of Douglas MacArthur, Jimmy Hoffa, John L. Lewis, Eleanor Roosevelt, James Dean, and Samuel Goldwyn.
Midcentury enjoys fifteen weeks as a New York Times bestseller Wall Street Journal calls it “…a sudden infusion and heightening of all his many skills as novelist, poet and dramatic narrator of historical fact. Dos Passos has come forth with the most satisfying work of his long career.” The New York Times Book Review calls it “one of the few genuinely good American novels of recent years.” Time declares it “the best novel from Dos Passos since his U.S.A. trilogy.”
496 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1960
5 people are currently reading
208 people want to read
About the author
John Dos Passos
214 books589 followersJohn 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 29, 2019
An Unhopeful Postscript
No one knew the America of his time better than Dos Passos. The follow-on to his USA trilogy, Mid-Century, I read as a sort of disappointed postscript. The USA books were somewhat dismal in their description of the emergence of the striving but purposeless corporate society after WW I. But they also had a spark of hope. Their sense was something along the lines of "Once this all settles down we might be able to do something about this mess."
Dos Passos adopts John Stuart Mills's very pragmatist ethic as his own: "If all mankind, minus one, were of one opinion and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power - would be justified in silencing mankind." What he feared were the individuals and institutions that violated this principle.
So his characterisation of the labour leader Walter Reuther, head of the United Auto Workers is pointed: "He was so convinced of the probity of his own intentions that he never could believe in the probity of people who had other ideas." He was, in short, a bully whose objective always included the silencing of opposition, inside as well as outside the union.
He also saw that bullying had become an unparalleled art form in America after WW II. The McCarthy Hearings, the Cold War, the growing middle-class self-satisfaction, the emergence of what President Eisenhower called the Military Industrial Complex were institutional manifestations of the Reuther personality. Dos Passos said what few others dared, "Institutions are built on zeal. They are also built on fear." Mid-century is a chronicle of pervasive but suppressed fear.
There was also an intellectual component to this institutional fear. It not only produced technological advances in destructive power, it also inhibited an indeterminate range of human activities. Robert Oppenheimer, the 'Father of the Atom Bomb' is quoted explicitly, "Any form of knowledge really precludes other forms. Any serious study of one thing cuts off other parts of your life." What economists call 'opportunity costs', that is the loss from not doing something else, was potentially enormous but because of their nature incalculable.
Finally, a sort of social smugness, an unjustified feeling of superiority with a distinct anti-intellectual caste, pervaded America. Dos Passos summarises this sentiment with poetic terseness, "So many Americans felt that their neighbour had no right to know more than they did." The entire country it seemed had lost its way. One character notes, "Idealism without ethics is no compass."
One must ask if the situation has improved by End-Century and beyond? The fact that Mid-Century has never been reviewed before on GoodReads suggests that the question is not popular.
No one knew the America of his time better than Dos Passos. The follow-on to his USA trilogy, Mid-Century, I read as a sort of disappointed postscript. The USA books were somewhat dismal in their description of the emergence of the striving but purposeless corporate society after WW I. But they also had a spark of hope. Their sense was something along the lines of "Once this all settles down we might be able to do something about this mess."
Dos Passos adopts John Stuart Mills's very pragmatist ethic as his own: "If all mankind, minus one, were of one opinion and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power - would be justified in silencing mankind." What he feared were the individuals and institutions that violated this principle.
So his characterisation of the labour leader Walter Reuther, head of the United Auto Workers is pointed: "He was so convinced of the probity of his own intentions that he never could believe in the probity of people who had other ideas." He was, in short, a bully whose objective always included the silencing of opposition, inside as well as outside the union.
He also saw that bullying had become an unparalleled art form in America after WW II. The McCarthy Hearings, the Cold War, the growing middle-class self-satisfaction, the emergence of what President Eisenhower called the Military Industrial Complex were institutional manifestations of the Reuther personality. Dos Passos said what few others dared, "Institutions are built on zeal. They are also built on fear." Mid-century is a chronicle of pervasive but suppressed fear.
There was also an intellectual component to this institutional fear. It not only produced technological advances in destructive power, it also inhibited an indeterminate range of human activities. Robert Oppenheimer, the 'Father of the Atom Bomb' is quoted explicitly, "Any form of knowledge really precludes other forms. Any serious study of one thing cuts off other parts of your life." What economists call 'opportunity costs', that is the loss from not doing something else, was potentially enormous but because of their nature incalculable.
Finally, a sort of social smugness, an unjustified feeling of superiority with a distinct anti-intellectual caste, pervaded America. Dos Passos summarises this sentiment with poetic terseness, "So many Americans felt that their neighbour had no right to know more than they did." The entire country it seemed had lost its way. One character notes, "Idealism without ethics is no compass."
One must ask if the situation has improved by End-Century and beyond? The fact that Mid-Century has never been reviewed before on GoodReads suggests that the question is not popular.
October 18, 2017
So glad I kept this hard-to-find, used hardbound on my shelf for all these years. In Midcentury, Dos Passos returns to the creative style and brilliance of his U.S.A. trilogy. Some critics (especially Gore Vidal) were harsh on this novel because of Dos Passos’s late-in-life turn toward conservatism. If railing against corruption in high places within the national and international labor unions is conservativism, I can live with that. Deeper than this, though, Dos Passos mourns rising conformity and loss of individualism. Clearly Dos Passos is disillusioned in his view of post-war, consumption-crazy America. I grew up during this time, young and naïve, so I didn’t yet see the early signs of American decline, as Dos Passos did. Finally, what I like most about Dos Passos as a writer is his profound respect for his characters.
July 30, 2018
Idealism without ethics is no compass.
This is a huge story that encompasses much of the post-World War II labor movement, mostly as seen by workers and occasionally by management and by people trying to start a business. It features several real-world people using short biographies, such as John L. Lewis and James Hoffa.
Most of the stories are who I assume are fictional characters trying to get a job, trying to start unions, trying to start businesses, or trying to jump-start an industry. They need to balance their ambition with their family and with the impersonal but very dangerous forces that oppose new blood and new ideas.
Many chapters are preceded by an initially haphazard-seeming collection of newspaper/magazine headlines, subheadings, and paragraphs. These seem to make more sense and fit together more as the chapters progress. The book is also interspersed with what I think is a Senate investigator’s personal notes about interviews conducted with people, some of whom have died by the time the investigator writes about them. For those who haven’t the investigator provides an outside perspective on the characters’ interaction with the rest of the story.
The chapters themselves occasionally start as a sort of free-verse and also occasionally shift into free-verse as well. This is surprisingly effective at evoking emotion and a sense of the time period.
The time period is mainly the post-WWII period, but some of the characters began in the pre- and post-World War I period. There is a profound disappointment among many characters at the way worker-centered labor movements such as the Wobblies (at least as presented here) were superseded by huge national unions that more resembled the abusive companies the labor movement was supposed to oppose (ditto). The pre-World War 1 optimism slowly and organically fades. Throughout, after worker-created unions were subsumed into national organizations, new workers were blocked from entering a company or an industry unless they had connections; and workers with new ideas were discouraged from rocking the boat.
This is a sprawling novel, with a lot of ideas and a lot of characters interacting and coming together at the end.
November 13, 2020
Mid-Century seems to be the last of Dos Passos's books that follows the celebrated format of the USA trilogy: biography, history, and narrative sections, interspersed with more modernist elements. Mid-Century eschews the jarring Camera Eye segments of USA in favour of Documentary sections with headlines and snippets from what are ostensibly period news articles.
The book is divided into three parts, each introduced by a short poem. Each section has a focus but the narrative sections ultimately build up to an excellent final third. In the final third biographical elements start to point towards the narrative elements.
As has been mentioned before, Dos Passos has been passed over for literary memory, perhaps due to politics, but I would also mention that this book was saved by its final third. The other 300 or so pages were not as brilliant but are still worth reading.
Ending on such an excellent note, I find myself wondering what a 2020 Dos Passos novel would look like. Who would get a biography and would come out unscathed by his eulogies? If only for this reason, it is worth looking into Mid-Century to see just how Dos Passos assesses historical figures who were neither notable nor relevant to the era when he wrote USA.
Indeed, I first looked into borrowing Mid-Century via inter-library loan after hearing that the book contained a biography of Jimmy Hoffa, the disappeared Teamster union president. In fact, the book was written before he disappeared and contains such minute curiosities as Hoffa's dislike for alcohol, a trait which was included in the recent film The Irishman.
Perhaps no one will ever come close to Dos Passos in terms of how he can weave journalism, history, and narrative together. A contemporary with these strengths would do wonders for our self-awareness in the 21st century.
Some examples of Dos Passos shedding light on things in the way only a sage of his talents could, include: the state of the spectrum of the US communism and labour movement vis-a-vis the short period of time the Soviet Union had an alliance with Nazi Germany; and the description of long-time Senator Robert La Follette Jr.'s 1946 loss to Joseph McCarthy because the former, in spite of his social democratic and labour credentials, was openly raising concern over communism in the US and possible infiltration into the labour movement. It turns out that despite what was about to come, the USSR was popular among the American public right after WW2 because both countries had vanquished the Axis together. This is the rich commentary that I would be hard pressed to find in a survey course or all but the most niche history textbooks. It's the type of commentary that you get if you listen to your grandparents closely, assuming their faculties remain intact.
In the vein of Ernest Hemingway imitation competition, allow me to sum up Mid-Century this way:
John R Dos Passos in an irreverent and bold manner
attempted to recapture the magic of his earlier trilogy
and forego the passage of time.
Adding a tome to his fractal bibliography a third chapter to two previous trilogies.
The book is divided into three parts, each introduced by a short poem. Each section has a focus but the narrative sections ultimately build up to an excellent final third. In the final third biographical elements start to point towards the narrative elements.
As has been mentioned before, Dos Passos has been passed over for literary memory, perhaps due to politics, but I would also mention that this book was saved by its final third. The other 300 or so pages were not as brilliant but are still worth reading.
Ending on such an excellent note, I find myself wondering what a 2020 Dos Passos novel would look like. Who would get a biography and would come out unscathed by his eulogies? If only for this reason, it is worth looking into Mid-Century to see just how Dos Passos assesses historical figures who were neither notable nor relevant to the era when he wrote USA.
Indeed, I first looked into borrowing Mid-Century via inter-library loan after hearing that the book contained a biography of Jimmy Hoffa, the disappeared Teamster union president. In fact, the book was written before he disappeared and contains such minute curiosities as Hoffa's dislike for alcohol, a trait which was included in the recent film The Irishman.
Perhaps no one will ever come close to Dos Passos in terms of how he can weave journalism, history, and narrative together. A contemporary with these strengths would do wonders for our self-awareness in the 21st century.
Some examples of Dos Passos shedding light on things in the way only a sage of his talents could, include: the state of the spectrum of the US communism and labour movement vis-a-vis the short period of time the Soviet Union had an alliance with Nazi Germany; and the description of long-time Senator Robert La Follette Jr.'s 1946 loss to Joseph McCarthy because the former, in spite of his social democratic and labour credentials, was openly raising concern over communism in the US and possible infiltration into the labour movement. It turns out that despite what was about to come, the USSR was popular among the American public right after WW2 because both countries had vanquished the Axis together. This is the rich commentary that I would be hard pressed to find in a survey course or all but the most niche history textbooks. It's the type of commentary that you get if you listen to your grandparents closely, assuming their faculties remain intact.
In the vein of Ernest Hemingway imitation competition, allow me to sum up Mid-Century this way:
John R Dos Passos in an irreverent and bold manner
attempted to recapture the magic of his earlier trilogy
and forego the passage of time.
Adding a tome to his fractal bibliography a third chapter to two previous trilogies.
May 16, 2021
[Imported automatically from my blog. Some formatting there may not have translated here.]
Another entry from National Review's list of "Ten Great Conservative Novels". Five down, five to go. I was able to find a second-printing copy in the dark and remote shelves of the Dimond Library of the University Near Here; it appears to be out of print, but Amazon has a thriving used market for it.
The author, John Dos Passos (1896-1970), flirted with left-wingism in his early career, but was apparently too much of an realistic individualist to go full Commie. (His reaction to the Communist side in the Spanish Civil War caused a breakup with his former buddy Ernest Hemingway.) Later in his life he voted for Nixon and Goldwater; it's out of that mindset that Midcentury was written.
The structure of the book is (so-called) "nonlinear", with multiple stories intertwined with biographical sketches of actual people, and amusingly-juxtaposed snippets of news stories and advertisements (I assume also real). Dos Passos was a major developer of this technique; it must have been revolutionary at the time.
The biographical sketches are snappy and interesting. Some are famous (Eleanor Roosevelt, James Dean, Jimmy Hoffa…). A couple I had never heard of: Robert R. Young and William F. Dean. (I'm kind of ashamed about not knowing about Dean.)
The fiction bits mostly concern organized labor, with characters on both sides: an old Wobbly reminisces about his colorful life from the bed of a Veterans Administration hospital; a small businessman tries to set up a rival cab company in a small city. Dos Passos's picture of Big Labor is largely unflattering: a smattering of good eggs, mostly ground down by the corrupt.
January 21, 2022
This was my first read of '22. I read the whole work out loud as I did with the USA trilogy in order to better enjoy the American vernaculars and hear again the incredible bustling rush of industry, innovation and that sadness of human struggle that only Dos Passos captures so completely. "Midcentury" essentially picks up where the trilogy left off, utilizing the same narrative styles employed by it's predecessors. Whereas the former works retained a measure of idealism about the promise of organized labor and encouraged anger for the Capitalist system responsible for World War atrocities and human misery, in "Midcentury," Dos Passos actually emerges as a critic of the corruption that has swarmed the ranks of Labor Unions and he endeavors to chart their ugly maturation as a force for stagnation. His faith in the American spirit and our potential as a people to break through barriers and experiment, however, remains a celebrated force driving his characters. Readers will enjoy the scenes of passion between lovers, the honest monologues of trodden souls and fascinating biopics, (especially his summation of the role of Eleanor Roosevelt, codenamed "Rover") that illuminate the title epoch.
June 27, 2019
It is effectively the fourth (and final) chapter / book in Dos Passos's portrait of a nation over the span of a half-century, "U.S.A."
I think "Midcentury" loses a lot of the love and respect it (rightfully) would have been accorded as a result of Dos Passos having adopted some pretty strong political opinions in regards to and against unions and communists. (In real life, under the cover of the chaos provided by the Spanish Civil War, Stalinist agents in Spain murdered a dear friend of Dos Passos, something that made him vehemently anti-communist from then on.)
The kaleidoscopic style of the first volumes of "U.S.A." are all here in "Midcentury" complete with: a mish-mash of headlines, music, speeches, etc.,; small capsule biographies of some of the most important people of that era; and a main narrative focusing on those that don't (or very likely won't) make it. All of which is why I consider this to be the unofficial fourth piece/book in Dos Passos's indisputable masterpiece, "U.S.A."
I think "Midcentury" loses a lot of the love and respect it (rightfully) would have been accorded as a result of Dos Passos having adopted some pretty strong political opinions in regards to and against unions and communists. (In real life, under the cover of the chaos provided by the Spanish Civil War, Stalinist agents in Spain murdered a dear friend of Dos Passos, something that made him vehemently anti-communist from then on.)
The kaleidoscopic style of the first volumes of "U.S.A." are all here in "Midcentury" complete with: a mish-mash of headlines, music, speeches, etc.,; small capsule biographies of some of the most important people of that era; and a main narrative focusing on those that don't (or very likely won't) make it. All of which is why I consider this to be the unofficial fourth piece/book in Dos Passos's indisputable masterpiece, "U.S.A."
August 20, 2017
Dos Passos writes bitterly in this later book, compared to the frentic, sometimes irrationally exuberant tone in the U.S.A. Trilogy. From the start -- with the scathing portrayal of MacArthur as a "brass hat" and "the unready" whose popularity seems based on a realization in his early career that he had "a bad press" that he needed to combat with PRO -- reads like a an indictment of America that failed to achieve both the capitalist and the socialist utopia.
I should read more closely to understand Dos Passos' point of view better.
I should read more closely to understand Dos Passos' point of view better.
March 24, 2013
John Dos Passos made a transition from leftist rebel to a conservative-libertarian viewpoint. "Midcentury" is from Dos Passos pro-right period. The novel is weak, as if it is straining for something that is not coming from inside the writer. JDP's early work was far better.
Currently reading
November 18, 2010Not well known and out of print. Great read so far.
Read
July 28, 2011Excellent.
December 3, 2020
A very strong 3# behind the U.S.A. Trilogy and "Manhattan Transfer." His scope and chewy prose are matchless.
April 24, 2020
I read this a long time ago - 1973 - i was 27 and pregnant with my first child Indeed I finished it in hospital. The copy I had was from my library and was beautifully laid out with the Newspages on a page of their own. I was much taken with the story and with the presentation, and considered it one of my favourite books and indeed it influenced the way I wrote my book. I bought a copy a few years ago during a phase of buying books I'd loved. The copy I received was not laid out as I'd remembered and I tried to read it but could not get into it. One day I may try again.
February 1, 2018
I guess I didn't read this book yet?
The ending left me hanging.
Many, many interesting, historical anecdotes throughout the book.
Well worth the read. I want to read more of his stuff and plan to.
The ending left me hanging.
Many, many interesting, historical anecdotes throughout the book.
Well worth the read. I want to read more of his stuff and plan to.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews