25 More Contenders for the “Great American Novel”

25 books I recommend as a great novel from the US organized chronologically within themes.

0:00 Introduction
1:04 Redemption
6:12 Conspiracy/Individualism
11:29 Legacy
19:16 Greed
25:01 Race
30:31 Subverting the Dream

Brian ‪@BookishTexan‬ and his list:    • 25 Books That Could Be The Great Amer...  
Inspired by Greg’s video ‪@SupposedlyFun‬ :    • Reacting to The Atlantic’s Great Amer...  

Redemption:
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850)
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937) my discussion:    • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora ...  
East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952)
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (1977) my discussion:    • Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison  

Conspiracy/Individualism:
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (1851)
Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (1973)
Libra by Don DeLillo (1988) my discussion:    • Libra by Don DeLillo (historical fict...  
Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson (1992)

Legacy:
Little Women by Louisa Mae Alcott (1868-69)
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner (1936)
American Pastoral by Philip Roth (1997)
Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen (2008)

Greed:
McTeague by Frank Norris (1899)
House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (1905)
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1930)
JR by William Gaddis (1975)

Race:
Cane by Jean Toomer (1923) my discussion:    • Cane by Jean Toomer (experimental adv...  
Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979) my discussion:    • Kindred by Octavia E. Butler  
Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison (1999) my discussion:    • Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison (Influenc...  
The Round House by Louise Erdrich (2012)

Subverting the American Dream:
In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes (1947)
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates (1960)
Ragtime by EL Doctorow (1975)
Always Coming Home by Ursula K. LeGuin (1988)
The Dying Grass by William T. Vollmann (2015)

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