Quintessential American Fiction, According to the Rest of the World

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

Literary Hub, 100 Books

On the occasion of the 4th of July, we the asked the rest of the world for its opinion on American literature. In a deeply unscientific survey of nearly 50 writers, editors, publishers, critics, and translators, representing 30 countries, we asked them to name three quintessentially American books, and tell us about their choices.

This list was originally published in 2015 and was added to this site over 2 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
4 The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger 1951 American English
7 Moby-Dick Herman Melville 1851 American English
41 On the Road Jack Kerouac 1957 American English
181 Light in August William Faulkner 1932 American English
570 American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis 1991 American English
22 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain 1884 American English
79 As I Lay Dying William Faulkner 1930 American English
1684 Train Dreams Denis Johnson 2002 American English
14 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov 1955 American English
333 Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace 1996 American English
460 Bartleby the Scrivener Herman Melville 1853 American English
411 Underworld Don DeLillo 1997 American English
118 The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers 1940 American English
54 The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway 1952 American English
74 The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne 1850 American English
1197 Light Years James Salter 1975 American English
203 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole 1980 American English
406 Ragtime E. L. Doctorow 1975 American English
418 Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides 2002 American English
1567 To Build A Fire Jack London 1902 American English
2702 Close Range Annie Proulx 1999 American English
11639 Damned If I Do Percival Everett 2013 American English
1898 Tenth of December George Saunders 2013 American English
2857 A Mercy Toni Morrison 2008 American English
1758 Sabbath's Theater Philip Roth 1995 American English
1137 Miss Lonelyhearts Nathanael West 1933 American English
2954 Dog Soldiers Robert Stone 1974 American English
611 Revolutionary Road Richard Yates 1961 American English
185 U.S.A. Trilogy John Dos Passos 1930 American English
161 The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler 1953 American English
1625 The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch Philip K. Dick 1965 American English
43 Absalom, Absalom! William Faulkner 1936 American English
6561 The Tortilla Curtain T. Coraghessan Boyle 1995 American English
8493 Postcards From The Edge Carrie Fisher 1987 American English
8712 Sweet Talk Stephanie Vaughn 1990 American English
290 The Road Cormac McCarthy 2006 American English
1089 Suttree Cormac McCarthy 1979 American English
10367 Sweet Land Stories E. L. Doctorow 2004 American English
1909 The Collected Stories Of Lydia Davis Lydia Davis 2009 American English
280 The Adventures of Augie March Saul Bellow 1953 American English
6821 The Pat Hobby Stories F. Scott Fitzgerald 1962 American English
347 The Day of the Locust Nathanael West 1939 American English
11894 Kinder Than Solitude Yiyun Li 2014 American English
420 The Human Stain Philip Roth 2000 American English
2188 No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy 2005 American English
2166 The Buddha in the Attic Julie Otsuka 2011 American English
10185 Winter Journal Paul Auster 2012 American English
10367 Still Can't See Nothin' Comin' Daniel Grey Marshall 2004 American English
421 A Visit From The Goon Squad Jennifer Egan 2010 American English
8792 What Work Is Philip Levine 1991 American English
693 Little House on the Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder 1935 American English
256 Babbitt Sinclair Lewis 1922 American English
3062 The Fortress of Solitude Jonathan Lethem 2003 American English
380 American Pastoral Philip Roth 1997 American English
10423 The Son Philipp Meyer 2013 American English
747 Blonde Joyce Carol Oates 2000 American English
1565 A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again David Foster Wallace 1997 American English
4525 Falconer John Cheever 1977 American English
182 The Moviegoer Walker Percy 1961 American English
3 The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald 1925 American English
6821 Donald Duck Carl Barks, Walt Disney 1942 American English
1933 On Self Reliance Ralph Waldo Emerson 1841 American English
1251 The Last Gentleman Walker Percy 1966 American English
982 Speedboat Renata Adler 1976 American English
924 Where I'm Calling From Raymond Carver 1988 American English
3615 11 22 63 Stephen King 2011 American English
6919 S.C.U.M. Manifesto Valerie Solanas 1967 American English
16 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee 1960 American English
1972 The Virgin Suicides Jeffrey Eugenides 1993 American English
443 Americanah Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2013 Nigerian English
758 Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury 1957 American English
84 Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut 1969 American English
689 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin 1791 American English
6821 Tales Of The Jazz Age F. Scott Fitzgerald 1922 American English
6821 Collected Stories Of William Saroyan William Saroyan 1943 American English
1900 Collected Stories Of O. Henry O. Henry 1908 American English
6821 Tracy's Tiger William Saroyan 1951 American English
1473 What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Raymond Carver 1981 American English
607 House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski 2000 American English
5028 Theophilus North Thornton Wilder 1973 American English
2178 The Love Of The Last Tycoon F. Scott Fitzgerald 1941 American English
6821 The Swimmer John Cheever 1964 American English
6821 Let It Come Down Paul Bowles 1952 American English
717 A Sport and a Pastime James Salter 1967 American English
6821 Mark Twain's (Burlesque) Autobiography And First Romance Mark Twain 1871 American English
5412 Reflections In A Golden Eye Carson McCullers 1941 American English
565 Amerika Franz Kafka 1927 Czech German
49 Beloved Toni Morrison 1987 American English
120 The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler 1939 American English
6821 The Lost Weekend Charles Jackson 1944 American English
9526 King Suckerman George P. Pelecanos 1997 American English
2385 Less Than Zero Bret Easton Ellis 1985 American English
6302 Lord Of The Barnyard Tristan Egolf 1998 American English
1783 A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Dave Eggers 2000 American English
7749 Geography Iii Elizabeth Bishop 1976 American English
4284 A Rose for Emily William Faulkner 1930 American English
9 The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner 1929 American English
910 The New York Trilogy Paul Auster 1985 American English
215 The Haunting of Hill House Shirley Jackson 1959 American English
666 Humboldt's Gift Saul Bellow 1975 American English