# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/101 "2017-07-14T05:47:47Z")
**On the Road** , by Jack Kerouac. I read it in high school, probably around 1958, and it was fairly new than, and I have re-read it several times. I even read the Finnish translation of it, **Matkalla**. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/102 "2017-07-14T11:26:08Z")
_Suttree_ by Cormac McCArthy would be up there - phenomenally consistent writer but that is his best one, IMHO. Denis Johnson is probably my favourite American writer of recent times (passed away recently, sad to say), but was at his best in the shorter form - think he was a poet at heart. Short novels like _Angels_, or collections like _Jesus’ son_, are perfection. On the larger canvas, though, he could be a bit uneven. Gene Wolfe’s _Book of the New Sun_ mentioned above is also a personal favourite. I read it a long time ago, though, and am sort of reluctant to pick it up and change the memories I have of it. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/103 "2017-07-14T13:51:54Z")
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. I cried watching the film (starring Gregory Peck), a stage version at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and a key scene on youtube. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/104 "2017-07-14T13:56:57Z")
Lolita ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/105 "2017-07-14T14:52:03Z")
\*\*The Stand \*\* **The Bonfire of the Vanities** as a runner-up. ---
**Author:** ![dflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dflower/32/3270_2.png) [@dflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dflower)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/106 "2017-07-16T14:32:47Z")
Absalom, Absalom! William Faulkner ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/107 "2017-07-16T16:30:58Z")
Angle of Repose Grapes of Wrath Huckleberry Finn To Kill a Mockingbird Moby Dick All great presentations of Americana. If I had to pick one, it would be Grapes of Wrath. Love Steinbeck, but never understood Tortilla Flat. Crane ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533/108 "2017-07-16T17:47:22Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > All great presentations of Americana. If I had to pick one, it would be Grapes of Wrath. Love Steinbeck, but never understood Tortilla Flat. I read nearly all of Steinbeck’s novels (in one _long_ binge many years ago) and my pick would be **East Of Eden**. I agree about \*\* Tortilla Flat\*\*, found it underwhelming. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-american-novel/790533.md?page=5)