Why is so much of John Dos Passos' work out of print? Besides the USA Trilogy, time seems to have collected a thick coat of dust upon his legacy. Credit an obscure reference in Shteyngart about Dos Passos' Manhattan Transfer to send me scurrying to Wikipedia to discover more....
I've certainly heard of Dos Passos before, and I've been curious about his work, since he is a prominent member of the Lost Generation, but I never found time or higher cause to sit down and read. Besides Manhattan Transfer sounding absolutely right up my alley in terms of theme and subject, his works dazzle my curiousity for many other reasons besides. Consider his other trilogy, District of Columbia. I can't seem to discover anything about it, but it seems rather appropriate to my current locale. Then there's his use of various forms of media in the USA Trilogy --fake newspaper clippings, fictional realism, biography, etc--that smacks smartly of my own Ripples and Aftershocks. Intriguing. And a nice ego boost. Time to head off to the libary......
On a side note, the first leg of The Russian Debutante's Handbook sparkles with amazing wit, sarcasm, and the perfect dose of irony. Shteyngart skewers the modern hipster intellecutal elite with just a gentle, completely deserved, and accurate critique. After much cajoling from many friends, Absurdistan will surely follow shortly in my reading list.
3 months ago
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