<p>DS is taking American Lit in hs this (senior) year. They only have 4 novels (Great Gatzby, Scarlet Letter, Blood Meridian, and Less Than Zero.), and supplement with a lot of readings from the anthology. Since DS likes to read, and usually they have had at least 10 novels every year, I "promised" to add some to his reading list to better round it out. I will choose 5 additional works based on recommendations from posters. They must include at least one Mark Twain, one Hemingway, one woman author, and one African-American author (those could overlap). None should be unbearably long (eg not Moby Dick).</p>
<p>My American lit class is reading The Adventures of Huckleburry Finn, Beloved, Love Medicine, The Woman Warrior, The Sound and the Fury, and Drown by Diaz.</p>
<p>Hemingway: For Whom the Bells Toll and a Farewell to Arms
Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury and Absalom Absalom
Willa Cather: Death Comes for the Archbishop and O Pioneers
Richard Wright: Native Son</p>
<p>Definitely second “The Woman Warrior” and “Native Son.”</p>
<p>For African-American authors, I’m going to have to add something by Toni Morrison. Personally, I’m not a fan, but everyone else I know adores her and she is usually regarded as one of the best AA authors in American history.</p>
<p>^ while that’s a great booklist the OP request <em>American</em> titles.</p>
<p>OP, consider adding:</p>
<p>Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Walden Pond
The Last of the Mohicans
House of Seven Gables
Definitely something by Mark Twain - Huck Finn as mentioned above or Puddenhead Wilson</p>
<p>Twain – Huckleberry Finn
Hemingway – let him choose between For Whom the Bell Tolls or A Farewell to Arms
Edith Wharton – House of Mirth
Zora Neale Hurston – Their Eyes Were Watching God</p>
<p>My favorite Cather novel is My Antonia. How about something by John Updike? His straightforward writing style appeals to some boys. My son had to read Lonesome Dove this summer - probably too long at 900 pages or so, but it’s a great classic western.</p>
<p>My daughter is currently taking American Lit and here are some of the books she has to read this year:</p>
<p>Steinbeck-Grapes of Wrath
Twain-Huck Finn
Hawthorne-Scarlet Letter
Hemingway-Farwell to Arms
Morrison-Bluest Eye and Beloved
Wharton - Ethan Frome
Faulkner - The Sound and the Fury, Light in August
Heller- Catch 22
Ellison-Invisible Man
Plath-The Bell Jar
James-Daisy Miller
RP Warren- All the Kings Men
Kesey - One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
Gaines - A lesson Before Dying
Various Plays:
Williams-Streetcare Name Desire
Hansberry - Raisin in the Sun
O’Neil-Desire Under the Elms, Long Days Journey Into Night
Miller-Death of A Salesman
Wilder - Our Town
Various Short Stories:
Edgar Allen Poe</p>
<p>She also read alot of Am. Lit in her freshman English. A lot of classics that would be good reads if not already read:</p>
<p>Lee-To Kill a Mockingbird
Fitzgerald- The Great Gatsby
Salinger- Catcher in the Rye
Sinclair - The Jungle
Crane - Red Badge of Courage
Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451
Buck - The Good Earth</p>
<p>I’d choose Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison or The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison over Native Son.</p>
<p>For some contemporary American novels, how about The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (also check out Drown, but I preferred TBWL) or My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki? Both are taught quite frequently at my university. I also loved The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.</p>
<p>I would definitely put some Melville on the list. I think Moby-Dick reads much shorter than it looks, but if that’s out, I would nominate Typee, some of the shorter works (Benito Cereno, Bartleby the Scrivener, etc.) or even The Confidence Man, a fascinatingly weird book, and relatively short. Billy Budd is the one that typically gets anthologized, but I don’t find it as interesting as the earlier stuff.</p>
<p>Twain: Huck Finn
Hemingway: I’d pick The Old Man and the Sea–it’s short! (my kid is reading A Farewell to Arms --The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell Tolls are also widely read, but long.)</p>
<p>A few others my kids and I have read. . . (mix of times, landscapes) Not sure what your kid has already read.
Wright - Black Boy
Cather - My Antonia (best), or O Pioneers! (similar story, but much shorter)
Steinbeck - Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men
London - Call of the Wild
Sinclair - The Jungle
Portis - True Grit
Crane - Red Badge of Courage</p>
<p>Mark Twain - I’d read Huckleberry Finn even though it’s long.</p>
<p>Hemingway - my favorite is* Farewell to Arms.<a href=“I%20don’t%20know%20anyone%20who%20actually%20likes%20%5BI%5DOld%20Man%20and%20the%20Sea%20%5B/I%5Deven%20though%20it’s%20short.”>/I</a></p>
<p>Woman author - My favorite is Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton - BTW I hated My Antonia. If you want something more feminist you could read The Awakening by Kate Chopin. If you wanted to read seminal things that aren’t necessarily novels how about “Ain’t I a Woman” by Sojourner Truth and The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. Or for memoir/African American AND woman you could read I Know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou. Sylvia Plath’s *The Bell Jar *suggested upthread is also an easy read and you could read it along with some of her poetry.</p>
<p>For African American - I think people don’t take Langston Hugh’s poetry seriously enough.* Their Eyes were Watching God* by Zora Neale Hurston. The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I didn’t like *Beloved *by Toni Morrison either and haven’t tried anything else of hers, I know I should. I did like *The Color Purple *by Alice Walker. If you want a play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a classic and August Wilson’s plays are great also.</p>
<p>I adored Moby Dick, but if you want to read something short by Melville *Bartleby, the Scrivener *is pretty good.</p>
<p>I think you should read some Edgar Allen Poe - both poetry and short stories.* Daisy Miller *is probably the easiest of the Henry James novels.</p>
<p>I agree Catch 22 by Joseph Heller belongs on the list if for no other reason than to learn the origin of the phrase. Stephen Crane’s *Red Badge of Courage *is another seminal book about war.</p>
<p>I suppose you should read a Tennessee William’s play. I don’t think it matters much which one.</p>
<p>I’ll put in a little plug for science fiction - a genre Amercans have excelled in. Perhaps Asimov’s I Robot, or (more literary) Ursula LeGuin’s *The Left Hand of Darkness <a href=“which%20won%20both%20Hugo%20and%20Nebula%20awards.”>/I</a></p>
<p>DS loves Asimov, and has read all the Robot and Foundation series, as well as some others. He was just mentioning Ursula LeGuin yesterday. </p>
<p>Tennessee Williams is my favorite playwright - I’ll definitely find one of those. Or maybe a movie of one.</p>
<p>He’s taking psychology, so Bell Jar could be a possibility, although not sure about the appeal for boys. There’s a modern novel called Force of Gravity by R. S. Jones that is a similar study of decent into insanity.</p>
<p>irishmary203 - that’s a huge list! I know there’s some Poe around here somewhere, if they don’t cover any of the Poe stories in class.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone so far for the great suggestions!</p>
<p>Any thoughts on James Baldwin’s Go Tell it on the Mountain?</p>