1919 - Couverture souple

With 1919, the second volume of his U.S.A. trilogy, John Dos Passos continues his "vigorous and sweeping panorama of twentieth-century America" (Forum), lauded on publication of the first volume not only for its scope, but also for its groundbreaking style. Again, employing a host of experimental devices that would inspire a whole new generation of writers to follow, Dos Passos captures the many textures, flavors, and background noises of modern life with a cinematic touch and unparalleled nerve.

1919 opens to find America and the world at war, and Dos Passos's characters, many of whom we met in the first volume, are thrown into the snarl. We follow the daughter of a Chicago minister, a wide-eyed Texas girl, a young poet, a radical Jew, and we glimpse Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and the Unknown Soldier.

1919, subtitulada en su primera edición "La primera catástrofe", arranca con un mundo inmerso en una guerra devastadora, y los inolvidables personajes creados por Dos Passos o tomados directamente de la historia, algunos de ellos ya presentes en "Paralelo 42", se encuentran en el centro de unos acontecimientos que culminaron con el Tratado de Paz de Versalles (28 de junio de 1919).
Dos Passos logra captar en esta trilogía el espíritu de la época que ya estaba presente en su novela "Manhattan Transfer" y compone esta novela a partir de los grandes tiulares del siglo XX.
La tercera parte de la trilogía saldrá en mayo de 2007.