# What is your favorite American novel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2017, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533 "2017-07-05T11:48:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/61 "2017-07-06T11:06:09Z")
> [@Marci\_Al](#): > > Moby Dick. Close the thread. I’ve read Moby Dick and loved it, but it’s by no means my favorite, and I haven’t re-read it. Keep the damned thread open. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/62 "2017-07-07T09:57:36Z")
> [@Marci\_Al](#): > > Moby Dick. Close the thread. I have never seen that work. 🙂 > [@koeeoaddi](#): > > Don’t miss **Memoir from Antproof Case**. It’s completely absorbing and very funny. I should have put it on my list. I have not missed it, loved that one too. But ‘A Solder of the Great War’ is extraordinary and somehow worked its way into my bones. I swear I could open a random page from that book and find a sentence that would stand as, had it been written by most other writers, the most perfectly crafted sentence they had ever created. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/63 "2017-07-07T12:48:35Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > _Gone with the Wind_ > > Yeah I know. Shut-up. It’s mine too. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/64 "2017-07-07T12:51:13Z")
Easily, head above the crowd, _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_. There are others I love, particularly Hemingway and Steinbeck and _Gatsby_, but _Huck Finn_ is not only a great and entertaining novel, it is quintessentially American; dealing with issues of racial and class conflict, coming-of-age, comedy and adventure, and the mighty Mississippi River. Steinbeck is the only other great author that comes close to Twain for pure American-ness of setting and theme. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/65 "2017-07-07T14:31:37Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Easily, head above the crowd, _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_. I just re-read it a month or two ago. It’s a good read, certainly, but at least to me, it’s not knock-your-socks-off good, and the ending was a bit of _deus ex machina_, which I find unsatisfying. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/66 "2017-07-07T14:39:50Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > _Gone with the Wind_ > > Yeah I know. Shut-up. It’s a great novel, no argument there. The problem I have with it is that the historical context Mitchell created for it was totally bogus, but the novel and the movie were quite successful in getting people to believe her bogus version of history. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/67 "2017-07-07T14:50:20Z")
> [@TheSundial](#): > > The Mailman by Bentley Little > > It’s not as classy as the others listed here. It’s my favorite because of the surrealism. Mine isn’t classy either – **Geek Love** by Katherine Dunn. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/68 "2017-07-07T14:59:22Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Mine isn’t classy either – **Geek Love** by Katherine Dunn. I hear you. I posted The Great Gatsby, so I guess my nose is held high 😉 But you know the saying, there’s a reason they become classics? A couple of years ago I was talking about a situation with my son. He’d been burned by a guy who was rich and indifferent and was wound up the morning after. I asked if he could imagine the guy and his girlfriend having cold chicken and ale, the resonant scene from Gatsby which he’d recently read. He paused, then saw his situation framed in that scene. It is a complex thoughtful work. The work is just so damn polished. Its craft is as apparent and amazing as its themes and ambitions. So yeah, no worries if the title is obscure or right down the middle, if you know what works for you. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/69 "2017-07-07T15:40:07Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I just re-read it a month or two ago. It’s a good read, certainly, but at least to me, it’s not knock-your-socks-off good, and the ending was a bit of _deus ex machina_, which I find unsatisfying. That’s a legitimate complaint. But in my defense the OP was asking for our _favorite_, and AoHF stands out to me. It may be because I first read it when I was about twelve (just the right age); it may be because I re-read it at a time when I was struggling with what I had been taught in church like Huck did; it may be because when I was a young teenager the first Broadway musical I ever saw was _Big River_ and it thrilled me. But it’s always been my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/70 "2017-07-07T15:54:50Z")
If we’re going for favorites and not “the best” or “the greatest,” I’d have to say Gary Jennings’s _Aztec_, a great, compulsively readable historical epic. Rounding out my Top Ten personal favorites: _The Forever War_ by Joe Haldeman _Await Your Reply_ by Dan Chaon _The Killer Angels_ by Michael Shaara _Time for the Stars_ by Robert Heinlein _A Widow for One Year_ by John Irving _The Robots of Dawn_ by Isaac Asimov _Fevre Dream_ by George R.R. Martin _Misery_ by Stephen King _Memoirs of a Geisha_ by Arthur Golden Several other non-American faves, too, most notably _The Lord of the Rings_. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/71 "2017-07-07T16:59:00Z")
Man, no other Harry Crews fans? I thought there were a couple around here. **Ike**? Anyone? His Feast of Snakes is my #2 choice! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/72 "2017-07-07T17:37:12Z")
_The Homemaker_ by Dorothy Canfield. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2017, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/73 "2017-07-07T18:57:02Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This one is tough to beat. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/74 "2017-07-07T19:57:41Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > It’s mine too. Re-read GWTW last month. MM sure coulda used an editor. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/75 "2017-07-07T20:00:56Z")
_The Maltese Falcon_, by Dashiell Hammett. If I thought about it, I could probably think of ten or twenty more that are as good, but that’s the pick for today. Great detective fiction that is also a beautifully crafted novel with philosophical overtones. Along with some beautiful phrases - “(Sam Spade) looked rather pleasantly like a blond Satan”. “He was gone like that - like a fist when you open your hand”. And the story that is the heart of the novel - “Beams fell. And he adjusted himself to them falling. And then no more fell. And he adjusted himself to them not falling.” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/76 "2017-07-07T21:05:49Z")
**The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress** by Robert Heinlein. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/77 "2017-07-07T21:19:19Z")
Does _Shogun_ count? I believe Clavell had become a US citizen well before it was published. If not, I have to go with my favorite sci-fi novel, _A Canticle for Liebowitz_. Beyond that, probably _Catch-22_, _Slaughterhouse Five_, or _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court_. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/78 "2017-07-07T21:43:40Z")
“American novel” makes me think of American themes or something innately American, so my picks are in that vein even though the OP meant only author. Depending on my energy level, it’s one of these three, all of which are similar. _Blood Meridian_ by Cormac McCarthy: a lot of effort to read (it took me multiple tries to finish), but what a payoff _The Crossing_, also by McCarthy: a little easier to read, but without such an epic scope _The Sisters Brothers_ by Patrick deWitt (does Canadian count as American? Either way, he wrote it while living in the U.S. and it has a very American feel): like McCarthy-lite Since we’re supposed to pick one, I’ll pretend I’m extra-sophisticated and go with _Blood Meridian_. ---
**Author:** ![toast\_pakora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@toast\_pakora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toast_pakora)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/79 "2017-07-12T04:29:19Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > Red Sky at Morning by Richard Bradford omg I’ve never met anyone else who’s read that book. Read an old review of it and was motivated to actually buy it (because I read so much back then, it was library or go broke). Wonderful story. East of Eden was the one I stayed up all night to finish. Tried to re-read Great Gatsby a couple times recently but y’know, Daisy is such a drip. Little Women which I have reread numerous times but it was only the last time that I twigged the really oppressive religious undertone. It’s more blatant in the sequels, Little Men and Jo’s Boys, which are \*truly awful \*books. Killer Angels, then. I really don’t read many _American_ novels. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/80 "2017-07-12T06:58:59Z")
Another vote for **Grapes of Wrath**.\*“Then it don’ matter. Then I’ll be all aroun’ in the dark. I’ll be ever’where - wherever you look. Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. If Casy knowed, why, I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad an’ - I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry an’ they know supper’s ready. An’ when our folks eat the stuff they raise an’ live in the houses they build, why, I’ll be there.” \* Runner up would be another Pulitzer winner: **Lonesome Dove**. Rounding out my top ten: To Kill a Mockingbird The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Catch-22 East of Eden A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court A Canticle for Leibowitz One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533.md?page=5)