The Atlantic's great American novels of the last 100 years

theatlantic.com

18 points·olvy0··7 comments

So glad to see that "The Dog of the South" made the list. Someone on HN recommended it years ago which is how I discovered it so I'll pass it along. Certainly meets the definition of a "Great American Novel" with the way Portis captured how people speak. He hasn't written many novels but I recommend them all. (I only just learned now that he died in 2020.)

I was thinking of highlighting it too in my comment. The Dog of the South is one of the best novels that no one has heard of. Maybe The Atlantic will give it a bump

I guess I should read it. I just dropped off at the post office a copy of the Library of America's collection of Portis, a birthday present for a sibling. So far, I've only read Norwood.

Just finished rereading Geek Love for my bookclub and I was thinking that it might be a lot more controversial if published today. To my surprised it showed up in this list The Atlantic published today. Fully agree!

This may be one of the best 'best of' lists I've seen. It's diverse without feeling forced - Willa Cather and Richard Wright aren't just there for brownie points. I love the inclusion of kids/YA novels. "Charlotte's Web" shouldn't be considered great "for a kids book", it should just be considered great.

A lot of genre fiction novels are peeking their heads out of the ghetto. Sci-Fi, mystery, horror. A graphic novel which isn't my favorite entry but I appreciate the effort.

Hmm. I can think of a couple of Dawn Powell's novels that are better than A Time to Be Born. And is The Crying of Lot 49 better than V?

I've at least heard of all the authors of the pre-1940 novels they list here. Of the 38 from 2000 or later, I've heard of one.

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