# American Books You've Liked **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 27, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-books-youve-liked/850387 "2020-03-27T02:04:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-books-youve-liked/850387/42 "2020-03-30T15:53:18Z")
An unjustly forgotten American novelist is **James Branch Cabell**. My favorite of his books is probably _The High Place_, but that is not on [Gutenberg.org](http://Gutenberg.org). His most famous book is [Jurgen](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8771), because it was **banned in Boston** for indecency, which catapulted Cabell from obscurity to fame, however brief. Highly recommended for married men over the age of 25\*, who are least likely to be corrupted by it. - Also highly recommended for everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-books-youve-liked/850387/43 "2020-03-30T15:59:53Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > A Gentleman In Moscow, Amor Towles (this is an excellent book to read at this moment, by the way – the story of a Russian aristocrat who is on permanent house arrest in a fancy hotel in Moscow, and how he makes the best of it, a very gentle, witty, but pointed book). A fantastic book, of the 30 or so I’ve read in our book club this was my favorite. I also liked **A City of Thieves - by David Benioff** ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-books-youve-liked/850387/44 "2020-03-30T19:43:42Z")
Edward Abbey. The Fool’s Progress and The Monkey Wrench Gang. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-books-youve-liked/850387/45 "2020-03-30T19:56:03Z")
How about something from JP Donleavy? I’ll concede there’s a sameyness about his output, to the extent that I suspect many will say that their favourite Donleavy book is the first one they read - in my case **The Onion Eaters** (YMMV). I don’t know what the unwritten date cut-off is. Is **American Psycho** by Bret Easton Ellis to recent? j ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-books-youve-liked/850387/46 "2020-03-30T20:04:07Z")
(Unwritten date cut-off for _Great American Novel_, I mean. Missed the edit.) j ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-books-youve-liked/850387/47 "2020-03-30T20:15:49Z")
_The Sun Also Rises_ and _A Farewell to Arms_ Ernest Hemingway _Moby Dick_ Hermann Melville ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-books-youve-liked/850387/48 "2020-03-30T20:19:25Z")
I’m a fan of William Least Heat-Moon; _Blue Highways_ is his classic, and I’m currently reading _River Horse_, his tale of crossing America east to west by boat. And, as I usually do in these kind of threads, I highly recommend anything by Tony Horwitz, _Confederates In The Attic_ and _A Voyage Long And Strange_, to name a couple. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-books-youve-liked/850387.md?page=2)