American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

The finale of my review of the "U.S.A." trilogy by John Dos Passos. In this part we focus on again on the working class activists, which is where we started the series. I will not be posting for a while until I can start creating new episodes in a few weeks (after I return to Taiwan and get back into work mode). Our next project will be another trilogy, the Studs Lonigan Trilogy by James T. Farrel...

The penultimate part of my review of John Dos Passos' "U.S.A." Trilogy. In this section we witness the end of a character who has been with us from almost the beginning, but that is all just part of the wild mosaic of this novel.

This section of John Dos Passos' brilliant U.S.A. Trilogy follows the rise of consumer culture as reflected in the biographical sketches and we get to know Margo Dowling, who will be a major character in the later part of this series.

In this part of my review of the "U.S.A." trilogy by John Dos Passos we dig into the first part of The Big Money. We meet new characters and are reintroduced to some old ones.

In this episode we follow our characters in the aftermath of the Great War as they participate on the margin of greatness at or around the Paris Peace Settlement. We also see the end of Daughter, a great character while she lasted, and we meet Ben Compton who always seems to be taking one for the team. And Dos Passos eulogizes the unknown soldier without sentiment or grotesque patriotism.  

In this episode we continue our look at 1919, part of the U.S.A. trilogy by John Dos Passos. This section focuses on a new character, "Daughter" and the continued degeneracy of Eveline Hutchins.  

We lose Joe Williams as we get to the halfway point of 1919 and the entire U.S.A. series. This section is also notable for its biographical sketches of Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt.

In this part of my review of John Dos Passos, "U.S.A." trilogy, we start our look at the central novel about World War I called 1919 and focus on the character of Joe Williams and Evelin Hutchins (who we already knew) and are introduced to Dick Savage.

Part three of this mega review of U.S.A trilogy completed our look at 42nd Parallel. In this part we say bye (only for now we hope) Mac and meet Charley Anderson.

So in this part of my review of Dos Passos' U.S.A. trilogy we meet J. Ward Moorehouse, Eleanor Stoddard, and Janey Williams. Still no plot, but all a brilliant mosaic of American life in the early 20th century.

I begin a long series on Lost Generation American writers with this look at the first part of John Dos Passos' U.S.A. Trilogy. This section focuses on the character of Mac, a working class radical skilled in printing who become a Wobbly. Good stuff.

The final part of my massive review of Sven Beckert's masterpiece Capitalism: A Global History. In this last section we survey the neoliberal hell we currently exist in and get all depressed.

In this penultimate part of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History looks at the golden age of capitalism in the West, the period from 1945-1970s. What ever happened to the "Affluent Society"? Maybe we will find out.

In this part of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I finish chapter 14 and read through chapter 15, exploring the response to the Great Depression and the rise of "insurgent" capitalisms in the colonial world.

Part 7 of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History. In this section of the book we explore Beckert's commentary on state expansion and the origins of the Great Depression.

In part 6 of this 10 part review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I read the chapters on the "reconstructions" of capital and labor in the later 19th century. It is in these reconstructions that the foundations of modern capitalism were laid

Wow, we are half done with this massive book. The next part of my review of Capitalism: A Global History by Sven Beckert. This section focuses on the emergence of a capitalist culture and the rebellions that brought the "old regime capitalism" to an end. It is fascinating stuff.

These chapters of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History explore the revolutions we often lump together as the Industrial Revolution and the growing expansion of capitalism into the hinterland. It is increasingly clear we need to take a hinterland first view of capitalism's spread.

In this third part of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I explore chapters 5-6 on the developments in industrial production in the early modern period and their relationships with capitalism, as well as the reasons capitalism broke out from the islands due to a "perfect storm" of feedback loops.

Part two of my review of Sven Beckert's brilliant Capitalism: A Global History. This section centers on how the islands of capital became connected and extended their reach in the early modern period. 

For the next 10 episodes I will be reading Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History, which covers the history of capitalism from its earliest origins to the present. It consolidates most of the findings in the recent "history of capitalism" trend in historical scholarship. I am very excited to begin this project. 

A pretty short episode capping off this rather long series on James Scott and others. Anna Tsing's thoughts on disturbed areas is amazing and relevant to how to make sense of our disrupted world. I guess I was excited to start my look at Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History. Not sure if he is an American though (Born in Germany I guess). Should not matter. Let's do this. Next ten episodes w...

In this episode I look at The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Tsing. In this first half of the book we explore the human history of the matsutake mushroom. This great book will be the conclusion of this series that began with our look at The Moral Economy of the Peasant so many months ago. 

The finale of my review of The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrove. In this section we look at the origins (or non-origins) of the state and return to the indigenous critique of Europe.

Part 4 of my review of David Wengrove and David Graeber's The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity. As we come to the close of this book we begin to go deeper into the Neolithic and explore urban forms and political systems, asking the question if anything has an origin and if not, how can we tell the story of early humanity?