Dos Passos had a varied and successful career, despite his gradual exile from literary acceptance because of his political views. J. Donald Adams, in a 1936 review in the New York Times, praises Dos Passos for his "keen eye for so many different kinds of people." Adams goes on to say that Dos Passos may not be as skilled as some more experienced writers, but he is "one of the ablest naturalistic craftsmen" working in the novel genre. Adams does note Dos Passos's piecemeal style as both ineffective and disruptive to the narrative.

Dos Passos's The Big Money beat out Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind as the Best Book of 1937, as honored by national writers and critics and reported by the New York Times. Mason Wade, in his article "Novelist of America," declares that Dos Passos's "achievement has not yet received the attention it deserves." Wade...