With 1919, the second volume of his U.S.A. trilogy, John Dos
Passos continues his "vigorous and sweeping panorama of
twentieth-century America" (Forum), lauded on publication of the first
volume not only for its scope, but also for its groundbreaking
style.
Again, employing a host of experimental devices that would inspire a
whole new generation of writers to follow, Dos Passos captures the many
textures, flavors, and background noises of modern life with a cinematic
touch and unparalleled nerve.
1919 opens to find America and the world at war, and Dos Passos's
characters, many of whom we met in the first volume, are thrown into the
snarl. We follow the daughter of a Chicago minister, a wide-eyed Texas
girl, a young poet, a radical Jew, and we glimpse Woodrow Wilson,
Theodore Roosevelt, and the Unknown Soldier. 1919 provides an
incomparable portrait of America from the turn of the century to the
Depression of 1929.