# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/41 "2010-08-23T03:33:12Z")
> [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](#): > > 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 Hmm… I’ve read all of those except “The Sound and the Fury”, but that signifies nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/42 "2010-08-23T03:46:22Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > 1. The lack of Hemingway The problem with citing Hemingway novels as examples of American literature is that they tend not to be set in the US. I would have listed _For Whom the Bell Tolls_ (my favorite Hemingway), but it’s a novel of the Spanish Civil War. ---
**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 23, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/43 "2010-08-23T04:06:42Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > > [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](#): > > > > 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 > > Hmm… I’ve read all of those except “The Sound and the Fury”, but that signifies nothing. Well, there’s always tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow… ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/44 "2010-08-23T04:07:54Z")
Catch 22 Sirens of Titan Catcher in the Rye The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Graps Of Wrath 5 books that had an impact on me. But the list could be a lot longer if I considered some more Science Fiction. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/45 "2010-08-23T04:13:42Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > The World According To Garp - John Irving Now that you mention it, Irving might be a good choice (either _Garp_ or _A Prayer for Owen Meany_) if the OP wants to read something recent (i.e. by a living author) that’s not unlike the kind of novels the great English novelists wrote, while still being certainly American and modern. But he’s too recent to be part of a canonical top five “essential” or “classic” books. ---
**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 23, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/46 "2010-08-23T04:21:54Z")
Speaking of “Irving”, there’s always [Washington Irving](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Irving), author of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/47 "2010-08-23T12:51:28Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Wow, I’m shocked at a couple of trends: > > 1. The lack of Hemingway > 2. No sci-fi or horror, at all. > > This begs the question: is academia advanced enough to accept sci-fi/horror as “literature?” The answer there is yes, there are plenty of academics who’ll accept sci-fi/horror as “literature.” There have been scholarly works on everyone from Lovecraft to Dean Koontz. Recently when I was writing a paper for school that discussed figures like Delany and Butler, I found more scholarly sources than I knew what to do with. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/48 "2010-08-23T13:47:04Z")
ender’s game is sci/fi (and political) and it’s on a bunch of HS freshmen reading lists. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/49 "2010-08-23T15:34:49Z")
You have to include Huckleberry Finn. It is the archetype of the modern novel. Everything after that is a matter of taste and style. I noticed Faulkner, Pearl Buck, and Steinbeck mentioned on the lists above, they may be difficult to appreciate in the modern context. If you choose J.F. Cooper, make sure to read Twain’s commentary on his writing, and maybe consider that before or after J.K Rowling. Although he doesn’t get counted by many as producing great literature, try Stephen King’s Shawshank Redemption. I’d say it’s impossible to pick just five books, but try this: 1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [Twain] (read Tom Sawyer first if you have the time) 2. The Good Earth [Buck], The Grapes of Wrath [Steinbeck], As I Lay Dying [Faulkner] (pick one) 3. The Shawshank Redemption [King] 4. Cat’s Cradle [Vonnegut] (Slaughterhouse is more well know, but over-rated) 5. Portnoy’s Complaint [Roth], or The Cider House Rules [Irving] Then read all the rest. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/50 "2010-08-23T16:18:19Z")
If the focus is on getting a feel for American literature, I would probably take a slightly different approach and try to get one western (“Lonesome Dove”??) and one detective novel. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/51 "2010-08-23T16:28:13Z")
[My Antonia](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/632464.My_Antonia) - a love letter to the American plains [To Kill a Mockingbird](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2657.To_Kill_a_Mockingbird) - the best portrait of black/white racism in the American South [Huck Finn](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2956.Adventures_of_Huckleberry_Finn) - life on the Mississippi, real dialect, skewering of slavery [The Great Gatsby](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4671.The_Great_Gatsby) - New York, classes in a ‘classless’ society [East of Eden](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4406.East_of_Eden) - I don’t know. It just rocks. Plus, California. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/52 "2010-08-23T16:32:35Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > 1. The Good Earth [Buck], The Grapes of Wrath [Steinbeck], As I Lay Dying [Faulkner] _The Good Earth_ is a great, great book, but its soul is not American. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/53 "2010-08-23T16:36:29Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Wow, I’m shocked at a couple of trends: > > 1. The lack of Hemingway > 2. No sci-fi or horror, at all. > > This begs the question: is academia advanced enough to accept sci-fi/horror as “literature?” Why would you be shocked? The topic of the OP is not “Name a whole bunch of important pieces of American literature.” It’s “The Five Essential American Literature Books.” The fact that a sci-fi book, or even a Hemingway book, might not make such a short list is not that surprising at all. Any list of only 5 books has to leave off so much important literature that the whole thing is becomes an exercise in futility. ---
**Author:** ![KCMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90db22/32.png) [@KCMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCMonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/54 "2010-08-23T16:47:04Z")
I would add the Short Story to the list of things American Lit excels at. Even authors with great novels often write amazing short stories that give a better look at the “American Experience” than their novels. As for my top 5: 1. A book of American Classic Short Stories - including Twain, Hemingway, Cather, Crane, Emerson, Capote for certain, just to name a few 2. Lonesome Dove by McMurtry 3. Catch-22 by Heller 4. To Kill a Mockingbird - of course 5. Something by Elmore Leonard - Take your pick Also, no foray into American Lit would be complete without Howl by Ginsberg and Leaves of Grass by Whitman ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/55 "2010-08-23T16:50:02Z")
> [@jordanr2](#): > > D.H. Lawrence’s _Studies in Classic American Literature_ He’s English. Off the top of my head: Kurt Vonnegut _Slaughterhouse Five_ Mark Twain _Life on the Mississippi_ Tim O’Brien _The Things They Carried_ John Steinbeck _The Grapes of Wrath_ Herman Melville _Moby Dick_ Honorable Mention: Joseph Heller _Catch-22_ Ernest Hemingway _The Old Man and the Sea_ ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/56 "2010-08-23T16:57:00Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > 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. Try some David Weber. He kind of fits in this discussion, as his “Honor Harrington” series is like Heinlein channeling C.S. Forester, or vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/57 "2010-08-23T17:08:42Z")
> [@bup](#): > > > [@TriPolar](#): > > > > 1. The Good Earth [Buck], The Grapes of Wrath [Steinbeck], As I Lay Dying [Faulkner] > > _The Good Earth_ is a great, great book, but its soul is not American. I found it spoke to the American situation as well as the novels set here. But it’s a matter of taste and style again. I listed three in that genre because each will speak to people differently. To me, Grapes would qualify best as having an American ‘soul’ though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/58 "2010-08-23T17:11:23Z")
Five personal favorites of American lit in no particular order: East of Eden Moby Dick Huckleberry Finn To Kill A Mockingbird Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/59 "2010-08-23T17:31:19Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > 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. I’m thinking that if you’ll really want to be able to say “oh, I’ve read the most important stuff,” then that automatically leaves you without some of the options you’ve been given. _Cat’s Cradle_ is great, but it’s not going to make it into too many top 100 lists, much less top 5; and more to the point, it doesn’t really feel “canon-y” (I’d have to check tomorrow, but I think none of the traditional “arbiters” of canon, the big anthologies, carry more than a Vonnegut short-story). My top five of Am-Lit survey through the ages: 1. 1820-1860. _Moby-Dick_. Really, you can’t do without that. It’s wry, engaging, challenging, almost quintessentially American in its nonchalant acceptance of different cultures and peoples. 2. 1860-1920. _Huckleberry Finn_– **not** _Tom Sawyer_. _Sawyer_ is essentially a (good) juvenile story, and this is precisely what _Huckleberry Finn_ isn’t until the end, when Twain, that twat, ruins it all. Instead, it’s a serious meditation on good, evil, right, wrong, and what it means to have to make decisions on one’s own, among many other reasons. 3. 1920-1950. _The Great Gatsby_ or _Manhattan Transfer_. Both 1920s novels, both concerned, roughly, with making oneself in the classic American sense (with a twist, of course), rags-to-riches (and, in the case of MT, riches to rags) stories. I’m personally in favor of _Manhattan Transfer_, which gives you a full dose of modernist stylistics, too. 4. 1950-1980. _The Adventures of Augie March_ or _The Sot-Weed Factor_. Both these books are far more free about doing away with the classic American dream of self-fulfillment, as well as notions of personal heroism. I prefer _The Sot-Weed Factor_, but that may be because it’s my favorite book ever… 5. 1980-today. _Beloved_. I **really** don’t like this book, but it’s impossible not to read in such a survey. Now, essentials that you’re missing: 1. _The Scarlet Letter_. Be glad you do, but it’s also an essential book to understand American literature. 2. _The Rise of Silas Lapham_. Fit it in sometime: not as essential as _Huckleberry Finn_, but a superb read. I’ve said it before on this board, I am amazed that a single book can be populated by so many good people, and still not make a boring story. 3. _The Sound and the Fury_. I’d also say be glad you do: tremendous achievement, horrible read. 4. _Lolita_; _Catch-22_; _The Naked and the Dead_. All superb reads. 5. Far too many to count, actually, in the rough time frame. And having gone through this, you should really read more American literature. This is missing _so_ much great stuff… ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028/60 "2010-08-23T19:52:55Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > > [@jordanr2](#): > > > > D.H. Lawrence’s _Studies in Classic American Literature_ > > He’s English.\* Obviously, but that book is in itself a spirited education in early American writing that can easily stand in place of plowing through texts by Hawthorne, Cooper, etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-five-essential-american-literature-books/551028.md?page=4)