One of the experimental techniques included in the U.S.A. Trilogy by John Dos Passos involves sketches of influential people. These sketches offer a deeper look into character and behavior, focusing on the paradoxes in life that nearly all people of influence exhibit.
The Big Money, the last of the U.S.A. Trilogy, features an excellent examination of Thorstein Veblen the American economist who developed an entirely new look at many aspects of industrial society. Veblen conceptualized various ideas such as conspicuous consumption and pecuniary emulation. His insights were novel and probably represent the base of modern economies.
By all accounts, Veblen was an extremely complex man with many eccentricities. However, his methods of thinking and contributions to intellectualism are unparalleled in my opinion.
Some time ago, I read Veblen's most famous book titled The Theory of the Leisure Class. He uses a unique writing style. None-the-less for those who have the patience to digest the intricate phrases, the book represents innovation on a broad scale and humor that economists seldom deliver in writing.
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