American Greatest Authors

[Ri The Lousy Translator]

Sorry for my ignorance, but I'm looking for help. Could you please name a brief list of the American greatest authors? (of course we all have Uncle Steve in our hearts, but I have to point out to someone those -you may say- classical/former authors). I'm aware of William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, JD Salinger, Mark Twain, and I've read some stories -you may say "classics", perhaps for teens/women as those books from Louise May Alcott, Harriet Beech Stowe... I'd be happy if you could lend a hand on this matter. For me, Uncle Steve is a classic, but I'm sure our SKMB-tet will be able to throw some names, and no one will take this question as offensive. Even I read a lot, I'm not a connoisseur on the matter. Thank you!

[Black Suit]

Cormac McCarthy
Hunter S. Thompson
James Ellroy
Ellmore Leonard

[SixPins]

John Steinbeck is THE American author. His novels are time capsules, filled with fantastic US history that always comes hand in hand with terrific characters, enthralling story, and lush prose.

Suggested Steinbeck:
The Grapes of Wrath
East of Eden
Of Mice and Men
Cannery Row
Sweet Thursday
Tortilla Flat
The Winter of Our Discontent

[Cody44]

Can I recommend:

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury (Or anything by Bradbury)
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
All The King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men are amazing)
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

-This Might Also Help-

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, Edgar Allen Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Steinbeck (again!), Upton Sinclair, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Norman Mailer, Jack Kerouac, Tom Wolfe, Ken Kesey, Kurt Vonnegut and Hunter S. Thompson just for starters.

Long days and pleasant nights

[Samantha_]

Just my opinion but Herman Wouk is another compelling author.

Winds of War
War and Remembrance
The Caine Mutiny (great movie)
Marjorie Morningstar (different style than some of the other works)

and there are other works by the author ... but the novels listed above I read and enjoyed.

[Srbo]

John Steinbeck is THE American author. [/I]

That may be correct.

But, in no case can he hold a towel to Hemmingway.
If JS is the American author, then EH is the World author ( with Dostoyevski ).

JMO.

[Kim L.]

May I add William Carlos Williams, Dorothy Parker, Lillian Hellman, Dashiell Hammet, Tennessee Willliams, EB White,Truman Capote et al.

[SixPins]

That may be correct.

But, in no case can he hold a towel to Hemmingway.
If JS is the American author, then EH is the World author ( with Dostoyevski ).

JMO.

I didn't mean to say that Steinbeck was the best author to come from American, but that he was the most successful in representing America. Hemmingway's novels often take place during war or even in other countries, so I do not think his works are the best examples of the good ol USA, where as Steinbeck's books are majorly about the soil, people, and movements within the United States.

[Roseasharn]

I would choose Steinbeck over Hemmingway any day.
But then again, from what I understand, people either love or hate hemmingway and I fall in the hate section. I'm probably not very objective.
And I also really love Steinbeck. Really. Really. Probably too much.
I know just about everyone has read Catcher in the Rye, but as far as Salinger goes, Is trongly recommend his story stories (9 Stories), Franny and Zooey and Raise High The Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: an Introduction. I really think Salinger's other works far surpass Catcher. Especially the collection of short stories.