20th Century American Fiction, fall 2006
Recommended reading

Please e-mail to contribute some of your favorites!

Dan Brown suggests:

  • Chabon, Michael. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.
  • Roth, Philip. The Plot Against America.
  • Barry, Max. Jennifer Government.

Pina DiLena suggests:

  • The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera - Dipped in philosophy this is a book to cherish for life. Unbearably good!
  • Interpreter of Maladies by Jumpha Lahiri - This literary gem is a collection of short stories immersed in alienation and loneliness!
  • The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem - Great pulsing urban story set in the 70s in Brooklyn, near where I live.
  • History by Elsa Morante - Set during WWII, it will take your breath away and change you... if you are patient. It is a long book.
  • any book by Italo Calvino - He rocks even when he writes folktales!!!
  • White Teeth by Zadie Smith - London, a poignant story, a fresh and funny writing style.
  • anything by Russell Banks - From Continental Drift to The Sweet Hereafter this guy is a solid storyteller. His short stories are amazing!
  • Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys - a prologue to Jane Eyre with vivid language and emotional haunting

Liam Flaherty suggests:

  • Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, extremely violent but sublimely poetic, very interesting characters, its like a modern descent into the circles of hell through a teenagers wanderings through the American west in the 19th century
  • Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis, a book any college student or professor should read because its a hilarious story about a young, somewhat disinterested professor dealing with moronic superiors and over enthusiastic students
  • Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr., a wild story about various lowlife thugs trannys and what not surviving in a fairly bleak existence
  • Fight Club by Chuck Palanhiuk makes the movie seem dull, really impressive writing, even if you know who Tyler Durden is its still thrilling seeing it all come together

Conrad Lochner suggests:

  • Emancipating Pragmatism: Emerson, Jazz, and Experimental Writing by Michael Magee. more for the theory minded reader. has several engaging chapters on Invisible Man and the formation of modern american vernacular by means of a jazz aesthetic. Magee also makes correlations with Ellison's name-sake Emerson and the resulting implications.
  • Answered Prayers by Capote. his last "novel". awesome.
  • Gravity's Rainbow by thomas pynchon. Not for the light of heart or easily detered. The book reads like a hedge maze with no destination, accompanied by a slew of vague cultural, historical, and philosophical allusions. Though tedious and arrythmic at times, the novel provides a great example of post-modern literature.
  • The Complete Works of Poetry by Stephen Crane. We are all familiar with prose, but his poetry really proves to be a precursor to the post-world war one modernists, and is rather awesome.
  • Moby Dick by herman melville. A book about whales and, as we know, whales are cool.

Amy Meneses suggests:

  • The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice. This book is GREAT, it is the second book of a group of books named the Vampire Chronicles. This follows the book Interview with a Vampire (I am sure you heard of the movie that was based on it). Rice uses the Vampires to look at humanity from the outside in. Because the Vampires are out-casted from humanity, they are able to view us from a broad sense. It also gives a fairytale-like story throughout the whole thing in which you become mesmerized by the protagonist and his views of the world and complete dramatic personality.
  • Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice. This is book three of the Chronicles, the Vampire Lestat goes on his next adventure. This book is also great. DO NOT BASE THIS BOOK ON THE MOVIE WITH AALIYAH, only about 20 pages of the book is the movie, and they change it so much. The tale goes back to pre-pyramid Egypt and keeps the same sort of themes as Lestat but, like In Cold Blood it flashes from person to person and weaves the tale in a wonderful way. These two books have got to be my favorite, if you are in to philosophy, history, mystery or just love a good adventure, Lestat’s tales are the way to go.

Taylor Morgan suggests:

  • Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
  • One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.
  • Sidewalk by Mitchel Duneier (nonfiction)

Brooke Smith suggests:

  • Richard Russo- Empire Falls
  • John Irving- The Cider House Rules
  • Khaled Hosseini- The Kite Runner
  • Jonathan Safran Foer- Everything is Illuminated
  • John Grisham- The Innosant Man (good to compare to In Cold Blood)

And a few from the prof:

  • Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior.
  • DeLillo, Don. White Noise. (Or really any DeLillo.).
  • Heller, Joseph. Catch-22.

back