Standard Ebooks

Manhattan Transfer

John Dos Passos

Description

The scene is the end of the Gilded Age in New York City. Ellen Thatcher is a young girl who aspires to be an actress. Young Jimmy Herf returns after years abroad, and rejects business school, becoming a reporter. George Baldwin is a lawyer who wins a big case, but continues to struggle to grow his business, eventually entering politics. The novel weaves the lives of these characters together throughout the narrative.

Manhattan Transfer also has a good number minor characters, some of whom only appear briefly, while others connect to the several plot lines. They range from a lowly street beggar to an aspiring architect, chasing after love and excitement in the fast pace of New York City, often encountering both frustration and defeat.

The story then jumps forward through World War I and into the Jazz Age, moving from one scene to the next in a fragmentary style. Many have compared this to a movie with many jumbled parts put together, portraying an overall impression of the metropolis through these glimpses. Contemporaries praised John Dos Passos for his ability to capture the soul of Manhattan, and Manhattan Transfer was quickly lauded as an important work.

Read free

This ebook is thought to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. It may still be under copyright in other countries. If you’re not located in the United States, you must check your local laws to verify that this ebook is free of copyright restrictions in the country you’re located in before accessing, downloading, or using it.

Download for ereaders

Read online

A brief history of this ebook

  1. Finish metadata and initial publication

  2. [Editorial] Add small caps

  3. Semanticate

  4. Add no-break hyphens

  5. [Editorial] Modernize spelling

More details

Sources

Transcriptions

Page scans

Improve this ebook

Anyone can contribute to make a Standard Ebook better for everyone!

To report typos, typography errors, or other corrections, see how to report errors.

If you’re comfortable with technology and want to contribute directly, check out this ebook’s GitHub repository and our contributors section.

You can also donate to Standard Ebooks to help fund continuing improvement of this and other ebooks.