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10 Books Every American Should Read

palemale

palemale

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Huffington Post had an interesting piece titled "10 Books Every American Should Read." It's a mix of fiction and non-fiction. It's a good list, although I don't agree with all of the selections. Which books would you drop from the list, and which books would you add? What books would you add if you wouldn't eliminate enough titles to accommodate other books and the list were expanded? The Huff Post list:

1. Common Sense, Thomas Paine
2. The Federalist Papers
3. Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe
4. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
5. Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
6. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
7. The Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
8. Catch 22, Joseph Heller
9. Silent Spring, Rachel Carson
10. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/american-books_n_1557115.html

I would drop "Gone With the Wind." I would add "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacobs.

If I were to expand the list, I would add "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner and "Manufacturing Consent" by Noam Chomsky.
 
I'd remove GWTW also, as it's (IMO) too apologist about slavery. It's very good about over coming great obstacles, however. Someone once called GWTW the last Confederate victory of the Civil War. It also white washes (NO PUN INTENDED) the beginnings of the Klan

I'd throw in THE FRONT RUNNER by Patricia Nell Warren. so middle America could see what it's sometimes like to be gay & transgender. Also, they can see what their predjudices & religious fanatacism can lead to.

Also throw in the poem THE MIDNIGHT RIDE OF PAUL REVERE so certain republican women get it right......
 
Thank you for a lovely thread. Gosh, it's so difficult to select what I would add, but here are two to begin with.

James Baldwin: Another Country
Michael Cunningham: A Home At The End Of the World

Both from the the mid to late 20th century. Will they stand the test of time? I don't know.
I would not include Gone With The Wind.
 
Huck Finn is VERY overrated or as Futurama called it: "a corny slice of Americana". I would choose To Kill a Mockingbird over that.
 
The Road to Serfdom by Heyek, from Wikipedia:The Road to Serfdom is a book written by the Austrian-born economist and philosopher Friedrich von Hayek (1899–1992) between 1940–1943, in which he "warned of the danger of tyranny that inevitably results from government control of economic decision-making through central planning,"[1] and in which he argues that the abandonment of individualism, classical liberalism, and freedom inevitably leads to socialist or fascist oppression and tyranny and the serfdom of the individual. Significantly, Hayek challenged the general view among British academics that fascism was a capitalist reaction against socialism, instead arguing that fascism and socialism had common roots in central economic planning and the power of the state over the individual.

The Road to Serfdom is among the most influential and popular expositions of market libertarianism and remains a popular and influential work in contemporary discourse, selling over two million copies, and remaining a best-seller.[2][3]
 
Um, To Kill a Mockingbird is only one of the greatest American novels ever written and it didn't even make the list?
 
I would also add "Naming Names" by Victor Navasky. It's about the McCarthy era black lists. Excellent read. Interesting stories, like about Jerome Robbins, the famous choreographer. The committee threatened to out him as gay if he refused to name names, which would have ruined his career.
 
I'll go with the To Kill a Mockingbird substitution above.

And I'd add two that are rather obscure:

Oath of Fealty, by Larry Niven

Voyage from Yesteryear, by James Hogan


Both are examinations of which way our society may be or should be going, in the form of novels.
 
How could anyone possibly not include The Turner Diaries? :confused:
 
I think Americans should read more history books, they would then object to their government taking them into to stupid, expensive, unjust and unwinnable wars.
The recent follies have sent your nation broke and destroyed your international credibility.
 
genthree said:
I think Americans should read more history books, they would then object to their government taking them into to stupid, expensive, unjust and unwinnable wars.
The recent follies have sent your nation broke and destroyed your international credibility.
Click to expand...
Excellent idea! Try:

412RLzPJ8lL__BO2204203200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-clickTopRight35-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


You may not have to read it. We're living it.
 
maxpowr9 said:
Huck Finn is VERY overrated or as Futurama called it: "a corny slice of Americana". I would choose To Kill a Mockingbird over that.
Click to expand...

Huck Finn isn't that overrated; it's actually a pretty good satire on American life, especially with its anti-slavery and anti-military stance. It can be corny in some areas, but overall it's a pretty good book. On the other hand, GWTW is pretty much little more than a step above pulp fiction and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is so slanted that it's pretty useless even as fiction.

The others look pretty good, but I wonder why they put "The Invisible Man" on the list, outside of mandatory science fiction. If that's the case then I'd go with "Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" or anything by Jules Verne, if we needed something classical, even though I have a feeling "Lensman" would be a bigger fan favorite. If I had to recommend other books, then I'd probably recommend "Maus", "Watchman", "Innocents Abroad" (another Twain book, but it makes fun of Americans and I think that's important), Campbell's "Power of Myth", and Strunk & White's "Elements of Style." But that's just me...

RG
 
Haha, I'm not an American and I've read 7 of the 10!

I agree with above, omitting To Kill A Mockingbird is a travesty - one of the great novels of all time, regardless of your nationality. (One of my best friends named her daughter Scout in honor.)

I kinda agree with the criticisms of Huck Finn - it certainly paints a picture of a bygone era very well, however. My jury's out on that one.

Power Of Myth is another good choice, Robingoodfellow. Fascinating reading.
 
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