Manhattan Transfer
Book description
'My literary hero is John Dos Passos' - Adam Curtis (filmmaker)
'A modernist masterpiece, capturing ... the fragmented lives it sketches, in a dazzling kaleidoscope of New York City in the 1920s' Christopher Hudson, Evening Standard
'Dos Passos has invented only one thing, an art of story-telling. But that is…
Why read it?
2 authors picked Manhattan Transfer as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This novel of interconnected stories is a fascinating snapshot of life in 1920s New York City.
Considering that it was written in 1925, Dos Pasos does an incredible job of representing different backgrounds and classes as they move through the city with one another. It shows how one can’t exist in such a setting on the highest levels of society without the help of people who make up the fabric of the rest of the town.
Encountering day-to-day strangers in the city won’t feel the same after reading this book. Plus, it takes place during Prohibition from a real time…
From Amanda's list on making it there from anywhere in New York City.
I chose this book because it is, I am almost sure, the least known of the bunch, in a list that I admit champions some lesser-known giants of American literature from the last century and a style that influenced me as a writer. But what Dos Passos does with this novel stands apart. An experimental novel when it was published in 1925 Dos Passos jumps back and forth between the narratives of his disparate characters – from bankers to soldiers - creating a pastiche of life in the 1920s and in New York in particular that is raw and harsh…
From Scott's list on if you love old black-and-white movies.
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