John Roderigo Dos Passos (1896-1970) is recognized as one of the pre-eminent American authors of the 20th century. He was an American writer whose novels focusing on the hypocrisy and materialism of the U.S. between the two world wars, influenced several generations of American and European writers. John Dos Passos was such a man that appeared to have been significantly influenced by his past. His life was a mission to search for new ground on which to grow, which can be seen as an major theme throughout all his works.
Dos Passos grew up to a turbulent childhood and he was born on January 14, 1896. He traveled a lot during his childhood living in Mexico, Belgium, Britain, Washington D.C., and Virginia. After graduating from Harvard in 1916, John went to France to become an ambulance driver in World War 1. After, he traveled through Spain, Mexico, and the Middle East as a newspaper correspondent and a writer. During his stay in Paris he became friends with other literary writers such as Ernest Hemmingway, E. E. Cummings, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Edmund Wilson. He wrote Manhattan Transfer followed his first novel in 1920 called One Man's Intuition and that in 1925. His most famous novel, U.S.A. came in three parts: The 42nd Parallel, 1919, and The Big Money. They focused on politics, and social justice of the working class. His last two novels published while he was alive were influenced by his political philosophy his hatred for radical causes. They were titled The District of Columbia and Mi!.
d-century and were published in 1961. John died of heart failure on September 28, 1970 in Baltimore. After his death, two works were published in 1974, named Easter Island and Century's Ebb.
In this excerpt from U.S.A., John writes about the life of Henry Ford and the beginning of the automobiles. At first, he describes the sounds and how the automobile works. He makes it seem as if he was feeling the car and driving it just like the man who was writing the letter.