This is the second book in a huge trilogy. I read it withought reading the other book first. If you really want to invest a massive allotment of time ..Show More »I'd read them in order. Wiki the author and you might even start with a smaller monograph prior to this writing.
I like this style characters sketches and stories of real people living life up hill. He captures, like the faded sepia photos of the dust bowl farmers , the character and times his actors are living in. The action is believable and the emotions true.
His narrative is punctuated with real news flashes and song and a variety of period headlines which complement the naratives of the protagnists. At a later date I'll explore the other writings of this lesser known contemporary of Hemmingway, and Fitsgerald.
Seriously entertaining, enchanting.

« Show Less

I read and listened to this book because I was taking a class about Depression-era film & literature. What Dos Passos did was integrate a colloquial, ..Show More »real, personal, and fictional history in the U.S.A. trilogy ("The Big Money" is the third part of the trilogy). He used real headlines from newspapers of the time period along with advertising slogans and pop songs in the "Newsreel" portions of the novel. These are really fun to hear through the audio performance, and one of the reasons it is worth listening to.

The "Camera Eye" portion of the novel was harder to listen to, and in truth, it is difficult to read without some contextual information. These are largely stream-of-consciousness portions which Dos Passos used to describe his own memories. They are poetic at times--and like most poetry--benefit from being seen on the page.

The biography sections of the novel are fantastic, and worth the price of the book. His depictions of T. Veblen, I. Duncan, W. Hearst, The Wright Bros. (and more!) are fascinating studies of the larger-than-life historical figures whom we might have only heard about in positive ways in history books. A definite strength of the book.

His fictional portions, the characters he strings through these other portions of the book are engaging and interesting. A satisfying read, worth your time and money.

« Show Less