10 Books Every American Should Read

[EastMed]

One more.

Nathanael West: The Day Of The Locust

 

[LuvFindsAndyHardy]

Nathanael West: The Day Of The Locust

Great book but top ten? I'm not sure about that one.

I envy anyone who is reading MOCKINGBIRD for the first time. Such joy!

I wonder if GWTW was included less because of its perfection as a written work and more because of its pop culture fame? I'd take it off the list, replace it with MOCKINGBIRD and recommend people see the movie of GWTW instead (which has had a far more enduring run as far as popular iconography goes.)

 

[chrisrobin]

Here are a couple of WWII "classics":

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - William Shirer
At Dawn We Slept - Gordon W Prange

 

[chrisrobin]

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

Be proud! Certain members of my extended family not only have not read any of the books on this thread, they've probably never heard of any of them. At the location of my first (and only) teaching job, those who read books as a hobby were met with suspicion and contempt. *extends middle finger*

 

[Telstra]

Should the The Crucible be there?
It is still in American culture about religion.

 

[chrisrobin]

Should the The Crucible be there?
It is still in American culture about religion.

Good choice! By the way, this could pass as a 2012 documentry.

 

[GhostMost]

I hated To Kill a Mockingbird, to this day I still have no clue why.

 

[palemale]

Good choice! By the way, this could pass as a 2012 documentry.

Great play. I saw the production in the early 1990s on Broadway staring Martin Sheen.

 

[palemale]

I would also add "1984" by George Orwell.

 

[jdbadboy]

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

 

[palbert]

What a great thread! I would add Farenheit 451; Le Morte d'Arthur; Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius.

Goodness, how to stop? River of Grass, by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas? (I abhor Mark Twain.)

 

[GhostMost]

I would also add "1984" by George Orwell.

Oo that along with Brave New World except Brave New World should be higher

 

[LuvFindsAndyHardy]

I hated To Kill a Mockingbird, to this day I still have no clue why.

I just realized that you may be the first person I have ever heard with that reaction. Not that it isn't valid, it's just not something you hear very often.

 

[palemale]

I thought of another one. "The Enlightenment: An Interpretation" by Peter Gay. It's in two volumes, but I only read the first. Everyone should read.

 

[chance1]

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 agree

This list embarrasses me frankly - as I have read only 4 of the 10 - clearly I have work to do

Animal Farm and 1984 are two of my favorites not on this list

Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose
Moneyball by Michael Lewis - for funzies
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John LeCarre
oh yeah
John Feinstein's A Season On The Brink - a great Bobby Knight portrait

thanks Pale

good stuff

 

[EastMed]

Another great book.

Gertrude Stein: The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas

 

[Rolyo85]

I would also add "1984" by George Orwell.

I don't think there is a more important recommendation in today's political environment.

 

[palbert]

I don't think there is a more important recommendation in today's political environment.

But Miller, A Canticle for Leibowitz, Harper & Row, 1959, tells our ultimate fate.

(If I may interject a movie/book: Ellison,A Boy and His Dog, in a similar vein.)

 

[maxpowr9]

For those seemingly unaware, this is about "American Literature": the token English class most US students take junior year in high school before coincidentally, "Brit Lit" (I put it in quotes specifically because there is a good dose of Irish lit in there also).

 

[palbert]

I hated To Kill a Mockingbird, to this day I still have no clue why.

It's insipid, saccharine and fawning. Clues.