PASSOS, John dos - U.S.A. : The 42nd Parallel - (Hardcover in Wrapper)

A great looking book in a goodish wrapper  -  Illustrated by Reginald Marsh - 1st part of the famous U.S.A. trilogy - Listed as one of the best books ever.  >>>  John Dos Passos's statement at the beginning of U.S.A. that America is, more than anything else, the sounds of its many voices, offers several insight into the technique of the trilogy that reflects the author's attempt to capture some sense of characteristically American "voices", not just in the novel sections, but in newsreel, biographies and the camera eye as well.    >>>   Stop searching, THIS is the great American novel... but "novel" doesn't really do it justice. It's a panoramic portrait of America in the first decades of the 20th century. Dos Passos' characters chase, in myriad ways, their American Dreams, as the nation rapidly matures in its new identity as an urban, commercial, world power. There is no plot here- the book, like so much other art of the time, is, in form as well as substance, something entirely new- a novel novel. The characters surge forward in their lives, crossing paths with each other and with various American luminaries of the day, but not toward any clear destination. The book is imbued with a sense of history: Dos Passos and his characters know they are caught up in the fierce urgency of their times- America is going SOMEWHERE, and FAST... but where? I think USA is even better when the reader knows of certain historical outcomes that Dos Passos could only speculate about...                (Mile on Goodreads)