Kurt Vonnegut Slaughterhouse Five
Alice Walker The Color Purple
William Styron *Sophie’s Choice *
Alex Haley Roots
Truman Capote In Cold Blood
Maya Angelou I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
James Dickey Deliverance
James Lee Burke
Of all the SF authors, I’d say Philip K. Dick stands the best chance of being remembered, based on his short fiction and some of his major works like The Man in the High Castle and A Scanner Darkly. I’ve read more than one reference to Dick as “the Kafka of the latter 20th century.” Bradbury is a good bet, too.
Of course, if there were any justice in the world, R. A. Lafferty and Cordwainer Smith would be remembered forever. 
First time I have been able to check, given my work schedule…
Exapno - of course, you’re right - this will play out over time. That is the whole point to this thread - place your bets as to what you think will stand the test of time.
Twickster - you know, I agree with the Old Man and the Sea, since it was published in 1952, but I still think of Hemingway as a 1901-1950 writer, lumped in with Fitzgerald, Faulkner and Sinclair Lewis. I feel the same way about Steinbeck. But that’s just me…
Antiquarian - have to agree with The Gaspode here - Celestine should be thrown aside with great force…
mobo85 - great call on Seuss - Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Horton all feel like they could endure - and of course the Grinch, but it feels like the cartoon surpasses the book on that one…
John Mace - of course you’re right re: the Fountainhead. But that would mean we’d have to include Atlas Shrugged, as you state, and it is such a piece of excrement that I really didn’t want to have to do that - oh well…
Lots of other great ideas - I would challenge you to really try to not just “build a list” as we Dopers tend to do with this type of thread, but really focus. What 5 books will endure, say - and if you agree that Mockingbird, Catcher and Catch-22 are reasonable choices, that would limit you to two remaining slots. Of course if you disagree with those, please say so and state why, for discussion purposes. If you choose not to follow this approach, that is obviously your call - just trying to keep things focused…
Thanks!
I don’t think “On the Road” will last into the future; it’s too much of a niche book.
I think the Harry Potter books will have staying power. …oh wait, Rowling is a Brit. Nevermind.
I think something by Toni Morrison will be remembered…shes’ fairly popular and well-liked by critics (I just can’t think of which title would be last).
What about Vladimir Nabakov’s Lolita? I’m hazy on the publishing date but I’m pretty sure it was after he emigrated from the Soviet Union. And it follows the Gaspode’s criteria of commenting on the culture in which it takes place (suburbia of the '50s/'60s).
Lolita is a great book, Skammer - no doubt. But Nabokov is Russian, as you say, and the book was first published in France (in English, but through a French publisher, I think) a few years before the 1st U.S. edition…
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I know Tolkien is Brittish.
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I just missed the part in the OP where it said, U.S. literature.
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Did THREE people have to correct me? :eek:
And Exapno Mapcase, why would it have been embarassing for it to be remembered as our great literature. It is.
If you’re going to go that route, then Asimov is Russian. But I think that if an author identifies himself as a particular nationality, writes as a member of that nationality, and targets an audience of that nationality… Well, it quacks like a duck. Although I’m not really sure why nationality is so important, anyway: Brits and Americans read each others’ books all the time.
But a clarification on the OP: Is this about literature, or books? Because films are included in the first category, and movies like the Star Wars trilogy (I’m counting them as one work) are sure to endure. Wait-- Is Star Wars American?
Robert Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land” and “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” will endure.
Asimov’s Foundation trilogy as well.
Well, my correction was a simulpost, so that shouldn’t count against you.
I objected to your saying:
I don’t, as it happens, think that LotR is great literature, though I know I’m in the minority. But you were saying that it is the only book that will be remembered. And that just horrifies me. Not only are there all the books that have been mentioned so far, but probably a thousand others that are good candidates, especially if you’re allowing in non-US works. And compared with those 1000+, Tolkien just doesn’t rank very high.
Besides, I want future high schools to know what our culture and times were like and there are far better books for that purpose than LotR.
Great ones listed here. One I think missed:
THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT by Sloan Wilson will probably still be around – though maybe only grad students will read it.
Outside chance:
All the president’s Men (tho not for its literature value).
Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - P.K. Dick
Wise Blood - Flannery O’Connor
Autobiography of Malcolm X - Alex Haley
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry
Salem’s Lot - King
Chronos Star Wars is American; George Lucas grew up in scenic Modesto, CA, which has recently seen a couple of murders muddy its image. But I didn’t realize that movies might be considered Literature - I am not saying that that is incorrect, only that I had not heard that categorization before…
I am inclined, IMHO, to not include movies at Lit - to me they are their own category…but if they are Lit, then clearly a bunch from the 1951-2000 period would be absolutely critical and would endure, frankly, pushing most books aside.
I know The Stand by Stephen King will endure into the future, but somehow I don’t see a book where
a man has a gun placed up his rectum by another character just to watch him die
will have much of a place in schools.
And as an aside, schools (high school and college) rarely choose books based on nationality of the writer. If it’s good literature, it will be taught. That is the criteria. So for a list of five:
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
1984 by George Orwell
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Actually, my university (and the high school I attended) do teach based on nationality. 11th grade was American literature and 12th was British lit (although we also studied Greek tragedy). Those same classes are taught at my college, although there are also general “short story” classes and the like. Besides, WordMan asked about U.S. literature because that is the topic he is interested in.
I hope you were contributing to the list of five, or we’ll have to wonder if addition will be taught in schools in 200 years. 
Interesting choices, spoke- - I suppose my question to you would be - if you had to narrow it down to five that would endure, would you include my “core 3” (see previous posts) and if not what would you swap out and why, and what additional 2 would you add?
and thanks, Lisa-go-blind I appreciate your trying to stay true to the OP.
Confedaracy of Dunces by John Kennedy O’Toole has the same timeless qualties as Gogol’s Diary of a Madman
I second All the President’s Men even if it is nonfiction. It’s still one of the greatest stories of the last century.
My “top 5” would be:
To Kill a Mockingbird
1984
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Catcher in the Rye
My dark horse is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, since the “When is a machine no longer just a machine?” theme will become increasingly relevant to future generations.
I’m not sure I buy the premise that only a handful of books will endure, by the way. I can think of a number of 19th century books still talked about. I think several of the books listed in this thread will confound high school students (or maybe college freshmen) for many decades to come.
(One final note: I think The Fountainhead will be remembered much as we remember Uncle Tom’s Cabin today. Not a very well-written book, and not great literature, but it sure stirred up a ruckus.)
So my whole paragraph on The Stand went unnoticed? I can add, but it looks like you need glasses.