Dr. Miguel Oliveira of Portugal is one of the premier John Dos Passos scholars working today. His labor has deeply enriched JDP scholarship. He is a fearless researcher. I’m delighted to share a summary of one his latest investigations. Oliveira has looked into the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s file on my grandfather. It is chilling… Read more »
After a Herculean effort by director and producer Sonia Tercero Ramiro, the new documentary Robles, Duelo al Sol is close to its premiere in Spain and America. The documentary details the political and personal damage wrought by the murder of Spanish intellectual José Robles during the Spanish Civil War. Highlighted is the pain afflicting the… Read more »
Nearly a year ago I was on the banks of the Tagus river in Fuentidueña de Tajo with film director Sonia Tercero Ramiro, working on a new documentary on John Dos Passos, Ernest Hemingway, José Robles, and the Spanish Civil War. I met Aurora Rodríguez Cabezas, the mayor of Fuentidueña. The documentary, by Time Zone… Read more »
On May 12, Open Road Media is publishing e-books of The Best Times, Orient Express, and Number One. These are all strong books but I’m especially pleased that The Best Times is being revitalized in this way. It is an accessible, poignant, funny memoir that can serve as a gateway for the casual reader into… Read more »
I’m happy to present another guest entry, our first from the country of Brazil. My grandfather loved Brazil and my mother and sister have visited the country and reported great experiences. My sister is fluent in Brazilian-Portuguese. I aspire to fluency, not just because of my Portuguese heritage, but because the country’s culture is so… Read more »
Last year, in the Library of America backlist, John Dos Passos’ U.S.A trilogy was ranked #33 in sales, between H.P. Lovecraft and Ulysses S Grant. I think that’s admirable given the size and expense of the LOA series. It’s a new year full of possibilities to advance the JDP legacy. Soon, Open Road Media will… Read more »
In terms of guest entries, we begin 2015 with an rising tide of scholarly riches. Philip Poulsen, one of the Danish scholars in attendance at the 2014 John Dos Passos Society Conference in Tennessee, comments here on the art and writing of John Dos Passos. I’m delighted to hear Poulsen’s observation that, on his recent… Read more »
I’m delighted to begin the new year with a fascinating perspective by Professor Keiko Misugi on the legacy of John Dos Passos in Japan. Prof. Misugi, like many JDP scholars, discovered him through Manhattan Transfer. One of my primary lessons of 2014, as Communications Director of the John Dos Passos Literary Estate, was realizing how… Read more »
Dear Readers, One of the online publications that has helped me publicize the Dos Passos legacy is International Policy Digest. I’ve written the following articles for IDP: “Dos Passos, Hemingway, and France” and “John Dos Passos Remembered.” Now, after years of growth, International Policy Digest requires capital investment to deliver better service and continue growing. IDP‘s… Read more »
Rosa María Bautista Cordero is a professor and translator based in Madrid, Spain. She attended the First Biennial John Dos Passos Society Conference in Chattanooga, TN and presented on Manhattan Transfer in translation. See her description below on discovering the Dos Passos canon: My John Dos Passos Connection I first read John Dos Passos at… Read more »
Eulalia Piñero Gil is Associate Professor in American Literature and Gender Studies at the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid. She is fascinated by John Dos Passos’ insights into Spanish politics, culture, and art. She has researched Dos Passos’ Rosinante to the Road Again (1922) extensively. I am delighted to post here some of the conclusions from… Read more »
Aaron Shaheen, UC Foundation Associate Professor of English at University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, is co-founder of the John Dos Passos Society. His energy and knowledge have been instrument in the success of the Society. We are fortunate that he is currently serving as secretary of the Society. Below, Shaheen discusses the World War I novels… Read more »
Alice Béja is a top Dos Passos scholar. I’m excited to read her book when it publishes in 2015. See her fascinating remarks below on discovering the Dos Passos legacy in France: John Dos Passos’ posterity in France was largely shaped by Sartre, who in 1939 famously proclaimed him « the best author of our… Read more »
Jason Cannon, Ph.D. candidate at Texas Christian University, recently presented at the First Biennial John Dos Passos Society Conference in Chattanooga, TN. Read his interesting thoughts below on discovering Dos Passos and studying Adventures of a Young Man (1939): I first encountered Adventures of a Young Man while researching literature written about the Spanish Civil… Read more »
While I was in Chattanooga, TN for the First Biennial John Dos Passos Society Conference, I was interviewed by WUTC Public Radio’s Michael Miller. Listen to the interview here. We talked about Dos Passos, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald. And I talked briefly about my first book, Walkin’ Lawton, a political biography of legendary Florida statesman Lawton… Read more »
Wesley Beal, the author of a new guest blog entry, is an accomplished scholar of American modernism and the Dos Passos canon. He teaches at Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas. He is the former president of the John Dos Passos Society and he played a critical role in organizing the First Biennial John Dos Passos… Read more »
Miguel Oliveira, a writer based in Portugal, is one of the top Dos Passos scholars around the world. The Official John Dos Passos Website is fortunate to host another of his guest entries. Today, he writes on Dos Passos in the context of the centennial remembrance of World War I. See below: First World War… Read more »
On October 10-11, the John Dos Passos Society met for a riveting series of inquiries into the Dos Passos legacy of literature and art. The topics were varied and fascinating. They included: Dean Bartholomew (Independent Scholar) on the fractured friendship between Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos. Rosa Maria Bautisa Cordero (Universidad Alfonso X El… Read more »
I’m grateful to my grandfather for so boldly enunciating his heritage in his memoirs, The Best Times. He discusses his father, John Randolph Dos Passos, and his grandfather, Manuel Dos Passos. It isn’t the details of the family tree; it’s the statement of priorities that speaks me. He writes of the grief he feels in… Read more »
It’s testament to the beauty of Spanish culture that the memory of its people still lingers fondly in my mind. The many learnings and friendships developed during my recent trip have continued to pay out rich benefits. With the help of new friends, including talented translator Álvaro Domínguez, my original English-language article on Dos Passos… Read more »
