# The Five Essential American Literature Books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028 "2010-08-22T02:57:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/1 "2010-08-22T02:57:06Z")
I am an Anglophile. I have read every Dickens, every Wilkie Collins, every Jane Austen, Conan-Doyle, Thackery and Wilde. I love me 'dem Brits. And a girlfriend and I were talking about American Literature and I realize I have read practically none… Never bothered with _To Kill A Mockingbird_ or _Catcher in the Rye_. I can’t recall any Mark Twain although I did read everything Edgar Allen Poe wrote (he is almost Gothically British, in a sense). Since I know there is no way I will be able to get through the entire canon of American Literature, help me devise a Top Five list of American must-reads. I can’t stay away from my Pepys for too long, but feel I should sample a little of what is best from the States. ---
**Author:** ![ProudlyDefiant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@ProudlyDefiant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProudlyDefiant)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/2 "2010-08-22T04:26:00Z")
High school American lit teacher, here. My honors students read more than five American Lit books a year, but if I were to pick five from my current reading list, I’d tell you to read: The Great Gatsby Of Mice and Men The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Scarlet Letter Catcher in the Rye ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/3 "2010-08-22T05:05:43Z")
> [@ProudlyDefiant](#): > > The Great Gatsby > Of Mice and Men > The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn > The Scarlet Letter > Catcher in the Rye Well, I would definitely replace the Salinger with a Faulkner or Hemingway and it would be nice to find space for **Lolita** somewhere, but I doubt many lists will deviate too much from these. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/4 "2010-08-22T05:12:04Z")
not a HS English teacher, but i think the best bet for making an “essential” list would be to be diverse with the historical periods, and focus on books that are quintessentially American. Crucible (note: it’s a play, not a novel. if you’re inclined towards reading a novel then i’ll agree with **proudlydefiant’s** suggestion of The Scarlett letter) Tom Sawyer Moby Dick Great Gatsby Grapes of Wrath am i in the minority in thinking that tom sawyer is a superior novel to huck finn? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/5 "2010-08-22T05:17:06Z")
I haven’t read all of these, but so far as I understand, this should be a more fun and more variegated list of books than what **ProudlyDefiant** suggested. [Slaughterhouse-Five](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse-Five) [Invisible Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_man) [One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo%27s_Nest_(novel)) [The Oz books](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum) [Dashiell Hammett](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashiell_Hammett) [Robert Heinlein](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_heinlein) [Isaac Asimov](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov) [Catch-22](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22) The short stories of [Nathaniel Hawthorne](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne) [Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_in_Las_Vegas) [The Devil’s Dictionary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil%27s_Dictionary) (Not a novel but a fun read) [James Fenimore Cooper](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Fenimore_Cooper) [Death of a Salesman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_salesman) (a play) And yes I realize that this is far more than 5, but it seems best to pick 5 that sound interesting to you, than 5 that are simply ranked as the most literary. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/6 "2010-08-22T05:21:01Z")
American novels? Hm. I guess if given full control I’d put these on my syllabus: Catch-22 The Sound and the Fury The Great Gatsby The Martian Chronicles Cat’s Cradle It hurt me to leave off the Bell Jar and Hemingway. But 5 is the number, and I wanted to really **get down** with it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/7 "2010-08-22T05:47:43Z")
I don’t know what the Top 5 would be, but I would say that it must include _Huckleberry Finn_ and _To Kill a Mockingbird_ (though I could maybe see _Tom Sawyer_ instead of Huck). From the suggestions made by others, I think I’d round out the five with _The Scarlet Letter_, _Last of the Mohicans_, and, if we absolutely must have a Steinbeck, _The Grapes of Wrath_. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/8 "2010-08-22T06:53:16Z")
Arrgh, I hate the Scarlet Letter. I read it like 6 times for school assignments. My personal favs: 1. Huckleberry Finn 2. Catch-22 3. Moby Dick (although I think it would be much improved if “Whaling for Dummies” was removed and just the story remained) 4. The Natural 5. The Good Earth ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/9 "2010-08-22T12:39:45Z")
That’s a tough call, really, boiling it down to five ‘American’ novels. I’d be tempted, and with I believe some justification, to leave the Hawthorne and Melville out because they’re essentially British novels written by Americans. That is, they’re novels written in a style and at a time prior to the establishment of a true ‘American’ literary scene. Sort of how some folks like to place the birth of American literature with Twain. I’m not sure I’d go that far but I think there’s an argument there. Things I’d want to include would be things that give an indication of a time and place and people truly American and provide some insight. To that end I’d go with The Great Gatsby Tom Sawyer The Jungle To Kill A Mockingbird Of Mice and Men Feh, ask me tomorrow I’ll give you a different list. Maybe Bonfire of the Vanities or something. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/10 "2010-08-22T13:35:26Z")
The Great Gatsby Tom Sawyer OR Huck Finn To Kill A Mockingbird Bonfire of the Vanities Atlas Shrugged All very much “American” in culture and style. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/11 "2010-08-22T13:49:46Z")
The Fountainhead The Great Gatsby The Scarlet Letter To Kill a Mockingbird Uncle Tom’s Cabin ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/12 "2010-08-22T14:15:29Z")
i found the fountainhead to be an easier/more enjoyable read than atlas shrugged also. go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/13 "2010-08-22T14:21:57Z")
Waking up this morning, I will expand… I now _do_ remember reading\* The Great Gatsby\* and\* The Scarlet Letter \*in High School. and I was in an Honors program so I don’t know why I didn’t read _To Kill A Mockingbird_ or any Twain that I can recall (or was it that forgettable for me?!?!) I have read all of Rand and get into a rut of re-reading either _Fountainhead_ or _Shrugged_ every three or four years. I embraced Ray Bradbury as I segued out of the Nancy Drew and Laura Ingalls Wilder books so I consider him covered. I am narrowing this down that I should probably read Harper Lee, Mark Twain, Hemingway, and… Salinger? Faulkner? Melville? Steinbeck? Well, I am at least seeing that I will probably be reading more than five books (and interspersing my Pepys in between. Gosh, I love Pepys…) ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/14 "2010-08-22T14:28:13Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > 1. Moby Dick (although I think it would be much improved if “Whaling for Dummies” was removed and just the story remained) I love _Whaling for Dummies_. > [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > I have read all of Rand and get into a rut of re-reading either _Fountainhead_ or _Shrugged_ every three or four years. Oh my God, I can’t imagine re-reading Rand, and I reread _Whaling for Dummies_ every three or four years. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/15 "2010-08-22T15:22:24Z")
No love for _East of Eden_? I’m surprised. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/16 "2010-08-22T16:52:22Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > Waking up this morning, I will expand… > > I now _do_ remember reading\* The Great Gatsby\* and\* The Scarlet Letter \*in High School. and I was in an Honors program so I don’t know why I didn’t read _To Kill A Mockingbird_ or any Twain that I can recall (or was it that forgettable for me?!?!) > > I have read all of Rand and get into a rut of re-reading either _Fountainhead_ or _Shrugged_ every three or four years. I embraced Ray Bradbury as I segued out of the Nancy Drew and Laura Ingalls Wilder books so I consider him covered. > > I am narrowing this down that I should probably read Harper Lee, Mark Twain, Hemingway, and… Salinger? Faulkner? Melville? Steinbeck? > > Well, I am at least seeing that I will probably be reading more than five books (and interspersing my Pepys in between. Gosh, I love Pepys…) \To Kill A Mockingbird is a good read. It’s fundamentally a children’s book, I think, and while Lee is certainly a talented writer, I’m never quite comfortable lumping it in with true works of genius. Add some Vonnegut to your list - I’d start with Cat’s Cradle there. And if you’re interested in science fiction, you can’t go wrong with Asimov (not great literature, but sure as hell important). Similarly, dig into some Heinlein. I couldn’t possibly pick a sane number of books to recommend, but if you want a prime example of the sense of wonder and excitement that apparently sprang up post-WWII in America, read some of his juvenile/YA works. They’re not great literature, but they’re tremendous fun, and certainly helped shape a generation. I’ve been struggling with Faulkner, myself. My first introduction wasn’t until college, and I started with _Go Down, Moses_, which I think is a little bit too intense to start with. I’d start out with _A Fable_ or _Absalom, Absalom!_ - but that’s just me. I’d definitely rate Faulkner as one of, if not the most intellectually challenging American novelists. Read Moby Dick. Don’t feel bad if you end up skipping a page here and there, unless you’re super interested in whaling. It’s truly a great book but does suffer a bit from bloat. Huck Finn is great, but Twain really shines in his short stories and essays. Absolutely anything he wrote is worth your time. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/17 "2010-08-22T17:17:56Z")
[ol] [li]Hucklebery Finn - I would consider this one essential. [/li][li]Slaughterhouse Five, Cat’s Cradle or Breakfast of Champions. Just pick one but read some Vonnegut. [/li][li]The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner[/li][li]The World According To Garp - John Irving[/li][li]The Complete Stories - Flannery O’Conner[/li][/ol] I don’t know that I would bother with Salinger. If you had asked for 10 suggestions instead of 5 I would have included Steinbeck, Hawthorne and Melville. ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/18 "2010-08-22T18:03:04Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Similarly, dig into some Heinlein. I couldn’t possibly pick a sane number of books to recommend, but if you want a prime example of the sense of wonder and excitement that apparently sprang up post-WWII in America, read some of his juvenile/YA works. They’re not great literature, but they’re tremendous fun, and certainly helped shape a generation. I read a whole bunch of Science Fiction in my youth; up until my 25th year or so. Lots of Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Bradbury, and then Niven and LeGuin, Harlan and Philip K. Dick. I was hanging out with LASFS folks and attending WorldCon and whatnot. It all shut down after a particularly bad episode with David Brin and Orson Scott Card. The whole community was a tremendous turn-off and I changed my reading habits tremendously. Ironically, I am reading my first fantasy novel now in over 20 years at the insistence of a friend (art-related _Memory and Dream_ by Charles deLint) and _hating_ it. But I promised I would read it and I’m about 20 pages to end so I will definitely be picking up something new to start this evening. I have both _The Alienist_ and _Instance of the Fingerpost_ beckoning, but that is still outside the the theme of this particular thread. ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/19 "2010-08-22T18:05:38Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > I’ve been struggling with Faulkner, myself. My first introduction wasn’t until college, and I started with _Go Down, Moses_, which I think is a little bit too intense to start with. I’d start out with _A Fable_ or _Absalom, Absalom!_ - but that’s just me. I’d definitely rate Faulkner as one of, if not the most intellectually challenging American novelists. _A Fable_? That’s an interesting choice - can I ask why that one? (Not arguing with its inclusion - I haven’t read it despite an effort or two, but it doesn’t seem to be commonly viewed as one of his more seminal works.) ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/20 "2010-08-22T18:07:10Z")
If it’s just five: The Jungle Portnoy’s Complaint Arrowsmith Naked Lunch and something by Mark Twain [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028.md?page=2)