The Great American Novel does exist but if you tried to chose one from each decade which one would you choose? Difficult. I'll go first.
1880,s: Mark Twain: Huckleberry Finn (1884)
1890,s: Stephen Crane: The Red Badge of Courage (1895)
00,s: Jack London: Call of the Wild (1903)
10,s: Willa Cather: My Antonia (1918)
20,s: Dashiell Hammett: Red Harvest (1929)
30,s: John Steinbeck: Grapes of Wrath (1939)
40,s: Norman Mailer: The Naked and the Dead (1948)
50,s: Herman Wouk: The Caine Mutiny (1951)
60,s: Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)
70,s: Ursula K. LeGuin: The Left Hand of Darkness (1978)
80,s: Larry McMurtry: Lonesome Dove (1985)
90,s: Donna Tartt: The Secret History (1992)
00.s: Joyce Carol Oates: Blonde (2000)
10,s: Stephen King: 11/22/63 (2011)
I dont like Hemingway and Fitzgerald is really not my cup of tea so they are out in my lists. Atwood would be there but she is canadian. Havent read much Faulkner sadly. In some decades i really wanted to choose two or more but i tried to be disciplined. So come on ...... Disapprove and suggest other books.
1880,s: Mark Twain: Huckleberry Finn (1884)
1890,s: Stephen Crane: The Red Badge of Courage (1895)
00,s: Jack London: Call of the Wild (1903)
10,s: Willa Cather: My Antonia (1918)
20,s: Dashiell Hammett: Red Harvest (1929)
30,s: John Steinbeck: Grapes of Wrath (1939)
40,s: Norman Mailer: The Naked and the Dead (1948)
50,s: Herman Wouk: The Caine Mutiny (1951)
60,s: Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)
70,s: Ursula K. LeGuin: The Left Hand of Darkness (1978)
80,s: Larry McMurtry: Lonesome Dove (1985)
90,s: Donna Tartt: The Secret History (1992)
00.s: Joyce Carol Oates: Blonde (2000)
10,s: Stephen King: 11/22/63 (2011)
I dont like Hemingway and Fitzgerald is really not my cup of tea so they are out in my lists. Atwood would be there but she is canadian. Havent read much Faulkner sadly. In some decades i really wanted to choose two or more but i tried to be disciplined. So come on ...... Disapprove and suggest other books.