'The work of a generation'

 

“If there is a special ‘Hell’ for writers it would probably be the forced contemplation of their own works.” – John Dos Passos

 

Born in Chicago on this date in 1896, Dos Passos’ mark on literature came primarily through writing about issues of social justice. 

 

Well-educated (private schools and a university degree from Harvard) and well-traveled, he visited Europe and the Middle East to study literature, art and architecture, experiences he balanced against time serving as an ambulance driver during World War I.  Both experiences, he said, shaped his views and his writings about “fairness and justice.” 

 

Both a gifted writer and artist (he did covers for Life magazine, for example) he is best known for his USA Trilogy, which consists of The 42^nd Parallel, 1919, and The Big Money – a trio of novels that has been rated in the top 25 of The 100 Best English Language novels of the 20^th Century.  He became part of the so-called “Lost Generation” of American writers living in Paris in the 1920s, his friendships with Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald also having an influence on his writings.

 

Near the end of his long life – he died at age 84 in 1970 – Dos Passos reflected on his life’s work and said: “The creation of a world view is the work of a generation rather than of an individual, but we, each of us, for better or worse, add our brick to the edifice.”