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        U.S.A. (Trilogy)


        setting

        United States; France

        time

        WWI

        language

        English

        region

        North America

        year published

        1936

        page count

        1151

        difficulty

        Advanced

        main characters

        Mack, Joe Williams, Richard Savage

        Rip's impressions

        Accessible––a chronological trilogy without requiring any order to read––cheeky and fast; a fresh view of America during and after WWI.

        first line

        The young man walks fast by himself through the crowd that thins into the night streets; feet are tired from hours of walking; eyes greedy for warm curve of faces, answering flicker of eyes, the set of a head, the lift of a shoulder, the way hands spread and clench; blood tingles with wants; mind is a beehive of hopes buzzing and stinging; muscles ache for the knowledge of jobs, for the roadmender's pick and shovel work, the fisherman's knack with a hook when he hauls on the slithery net from the rail of the lurching trawler, the swing of a bridgeman's arm as he slings down the whitehot rivet, the engineer's slow grip wise on the throttle, the dirtfarmer's use of his whole body when, whoaing the mules, he yanks the plow from the furrow. The young man walks by himself searching through the crowd with greedy eyes, greedy ears taut to hear, by himself, alone.

        last lines

        (spoiler alert)

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