In a novel that closely parallels author John Dos Passos\'s own ideological struggles during the Spanish Civil War, protagonist Glenn Spotswood, an American, travels to Spain to fight on the Republican side.
Likewise, he sought to vitalize nonfiction history and reportage with the colors, sounds, and smells documented on his journeys across the globe.. trilogy (1938)--possesses the authority of history and the allure of myth.
His most memorable fiction-- Three Soldiers (1921), Manhattan Transfer (1925), and the U.
S.
A.
He invented a multimedia format of songs, newsreels, biographies, third-person fictional narrative, and first-person semi-autobiographical narrative snapshots to convey the frenzy of America\'s industrialism and urbanism in the twentieth century.
Dos Passos sought to ground fiction in historic detail and working-class, realistic dialogue.
Both genres benefited from his mastery of observation--his "camera eye"--and his sense of historical context.
He preferred the moniker of "chronicler" because he was happiest working at the edge of fiction and nonfiction.
Dos Passos considered himself foremost a writer of contemporary chronicles.
He crafted over four hundred drawings, watercolors, and other artworks.
He wrote over forty books, including plays, poetry, novels, biographies, histories, and memoirs.
About the Author: John Roderigo Dos Passos (1896-1970) was a writer, painter, and political activist.
There, Spotswood joins the Communist Party to help establish a more just society, but his idealism quickly degrades under the stress of party orthodoxy and hypocrisy.
In a novel that closely parallels author John Dos Passos\'s own ideological struggles during the Spanish Civil War, protagonist Glenn Spotswood, an American, travels to Spain to fight on the Republican side
