# 'Small-town America' Literature - recommendations?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-town-america-literature-recommendations/279888>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [December 15, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-town-america-literature-recommendations/279888 "2004-12-15T00:47:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![sleeepy2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@sleeepy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeepy2)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-town-america-literature-recommendations/279888/21 "2004-12-15T11:45:47Z")

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Nobody showing the love for William Saroyan yet? _My Name Is Aram_ , _The Daring Young Man On The Flying Trapeze_, and _The Human Comedy_, all outstanding.

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-town-america-literature-recommendations/279888/22 "2004-12-15T17:12:19Z")

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I’ll second the Garrison Keillor (_Lake Wobegon Days, Leaving Home, Wobegon Boy_) and the _Dandelion Wine_, and throw in _Walking Across Egypt_ by Clyde Edgerton.

_A Prayer for Owen Meany_ is a great book, but I hadn’t really thought of it as “small-town lit.”

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**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-town-america-literature-recommendations/279888/23 "2004-12-15T18:54:52Z")

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I recommend [_ **Paris Trout** _](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140122060/103-2651957-2983816?v=glance) by Pete Dexter. A gripping tale of racism and muder in a small Georgia town, post Word War II. It won the National Book Award in 1988. Terrific book, but not for the faint of heart.

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**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-town-america-literature-recommendations/279888/24 "2004-12-16T00:24:40Z")

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Anything by Faulkner, if he’s your cup of tea. I like Salinas as portrayed in Steinbeck’s stuff. And Flannery O’Connor if you want closer to Florida small towns.

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