The 42nd Parallel | 
pickI'm enjoying these little slices of American life in the early 20th century. This first volume definitely ends abruptly, and I might have to pick up the second before I get the characters from this one all jumbled in my head. This epic is better, less dry than I expected it to be, at least so far. We'll see if it holds my interest through two more volumes.
Last P.E. class until August. I spent most of it, as usual, audiowalking. I'm still tickled that part of this book takes place in San Diego (although it's set more than 100 years ago so is a very different San Diego than the one I live in, there are still people hoping to make it rich in real estate).
Also, I never think the grass looks this brown in real life.
pickThis is the first volume of U.S.A. Intended to be all-encompassing, capturing a nation at a moment (a few decades) in time, it is more of a collage or mural than a portrait. There are four components: Newsreels (headlines and snippets), biographies, The Camera Eye (author's stream of conscious), and the stories of a handful of characters from different backgrounds. The pacing is uneven; boring bits alternate with compelling character stories.
pick(Please excuse the terrible photo.)
Latest #modernlibrarytop100 book is the first of the USA trilogy. I was frustrated at first because I thought it would be a retread of Studs Lonigan. But then Dos Passos expands the scope so much. I love how he develops each of the point of view characters, and what he‘s doing with the style. Really getting into a pan-American experience. Or rather a WHITE pan-American experience.
pickIt‘s tough being the opening book in a series. You gotta set everything up while showing promises of what‘s to come. We‘re introduced to several main characters. It‘s an easy, fast-paced, slice-of-life novel. There is no plot, just following people‘s lives in early 1900‘s America. This ends just as America has thrown her hat into the WWI ring. I look forward to the rest of the trilogy. #1001Books
⚠️ Several uses of several different racial slurs
You know what it is? I‘m left unsupervised too much...
Fun milestone to capture, since we all start at 42! Thank you, lovelies 😊💖📚
Too goddam many lawyers mixed up in this. Run the sonsobitches out. If they resists shoot ‘em, that‘s what I says to the Governor, but they‘re all these sonsobitches a lawyers fussin‘ everythin‘ up all the time with warrants and habeas corpus and longwinded rigmarole. My ass to habeas corpus.
