Skip to main content

The American Experience

Description: Fiction to help understand the history and culture of America.

1 2

Rank Title Author Added

1

The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

74,016 members

1,171 reviews

3.8

10 Members: hipdeep, k8_not_kate, aulsmith, roby72, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, kara.shamy, FranzK72, ManWithAnAgenda

2

The Scarlet Letter

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

37,511 members

373 reviews

½ 3.4

10 Members: k8_not_kate, aulsmith, roby72, thecoroner, alex68, jaysbooks, ahef1963, kara.shamy, FranzK72, ManWithAnAgenda

3

The Grapes of Wrath

by John Steinbeck

35,118 members

476 reviews

4.1

10 Members: hipdeep, thorold, aulsmith, roby72, lemicnic1227, thecoroner, alex68, kara.shamy, FranzK72, ManWithAnAgenda

4

To Kill a Mockingbird

80,567 members

1,443 reviews

½ 4.4

8 Members: hipdeep, k8_not_kate, aulsmith, roby72, jaysbooks, ahef1963, kara.shamy, ManWithAnAgenda

5

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

44,145 members

524 reviews

3.9

8 Members: hipdeep, k8_not_kate, thorold, aulsmith, roby72, jaysbooks, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

6

by Herman Melville

36,497 members

545 reviews

3.8

8 Members: thorold, roby72, thecoroner, alex68, jaysbooks, kara.shamy, FranzK72, ManWithAnAgenda

7

by Toni Morrison

23,433 members

408 reviews

3.9

8 Members: k8_not_kate, thorold, roby72, lemicnic1227, alex68, ahef1963, FranzK72, ManWithAnAgenda

8

Winesburg, Ohio

by Sherwood Anderson

6,046 members

121 reviews

3.8

8 Members: hipdeep, roby72, lemicnic1227, thecoroner, alex68, kara.shamy, FranzK72, ManWithAnAgenda

9

The Catcher in the Rye

by J. D. Salinger

70,821 members

1,090 reviews

3.8

7 Members: k8_not_kate, roby72, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, kara.shamy, ManWithAnAgenda

10

by Jeffrey Eugenides

27,475 members

635 reviews

4.1

7 Members: roby72, lemicnic1227, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, kara.shamy, FranzK72

11

The Sound and the Fury

by William Faulkner

17,683 members

226 reviews

4

7 Members: k8_not_kate, roby72, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, kara.shamy, FranzK72

12

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

16,912 members

445 reviews

½ 4.3

7 Members: k8_not_kate, dara85, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, FranzK72, ManWithAnAgenda

13

by Ralph Ellison

16,568 members

212 reviews

4

7 Members: thorold, aulsmith, lemicnic1227, thecoroner, alex68, kara.shamy, FranzK72

14

The House of Mirth

by Edith Wharton

9,926 members

205 reviews

4

7 Members: k8_not_kate, roby72, lemicnic1227, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, kara.shamy

15

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

33,995 members

326 reviews

3.9

6 Members: aulsmith, roby72, lemicnic1227, jaysbooks, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

16

by Vladimir Nabokov

32,349 members

563 reviews

4.1

6 Members: k8_not_kate, thorold, thecoroner, alex68, kara.shamy, ManWithAnAgenda

17

by Louisa May Alcott

27,290 members

409 reviews

4

6 Members: k8_not_kate, aulsmith, lemicnic1227, thecoroner, ahef1963, kara.shamy

18

Gone with the Wind

by Margaret Mitchell

23,911 members

448 reviews

½ 4.3

6 Members: k8_not_kate, dara85, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, FranzK72

19

The Color Purple

by Alice Walker

20,273 members

338 reviews

4.1

6 Members: roby72, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, kara.shamy, ManWithAnAgenda

20

Little House in the Big Woods

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

16,999 members

293 reviews

4.1

6 Members: hipdeep, k8_not_kate, dara85, aulsmith, lemicnic1227, ahef1963

21

The Age of Innocence

by Edith Wharton

14,254 members

304 reviews

4

6 Members: k8_not_kate, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, kara.shamy, FranzK72

22

The Red Badge of Courage

by Stephen Crane

11,491 members

129 reviews

½ 3.4

6 Members: aulsmith, roby72, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, FranzK72

23

All the King's Men

by Robert Penn Warren

7,472 members

128 reviews

4.1

6 Members: aulsmith, roby72, lemicnic1227, thecoroner, alex68, Laura1124

24

by Joseph Heller

40,739 members

530 reviews

4.1

5 Members: hipdeep, k8_not_kate, jaysbooks, ahef1963, caitlindyan

25

by Jack Kerouac

28,347 members

388 reviews

½ 3.6

5 Members: aulsmith, roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963, FranzK72

26

by John Steinbeck

24,002 members

429 reviews

½ 4.4

5 Members: aulsmith, roby72, thecoroner, alex68, FranzK72

27

The Corrections

by Jonathan Franzen

16,857 members

343 reviews

3.8

5 Members: roby72, thecoroner, alex68, FranzK72, ManWithAnAgenda

28

by Michael Cunningham

12,817 members

230 reviews

3.9

5 Members: thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, kara.shamy, ManWithAnAgenda

29

Death of a Salesman

by Arthur Miller

12,539 members

117 reviews

½ 3.6

6 Members: hipdeep, k8_not_kate, roby72, alex68, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda,jaysbooks

30

Go Tell It on the Mountain

by James Baldwin

5,951 members

112 reviews

3.9

5 Members: thorold, aulsmith, alex68, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

31

The Naked and the Dead

by Norman Mailer

4,228 members

47 reviews

3.9

5 Members: roby72, thecoroner, alex68, FranzK72, ManWithAnAgenda

32

An American Tragedy

by Theodore Dreiser

4,041 members

48 reviews

3.9

5 Members: thorold, roby72, thecoroner, alex68, FranzK72

33

Of Mice and Men

by John Steinbeck

40,110 members

670 reviews

3.9

4 Members: hipdeep, k8_not_kate, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

34

Their Eyes Were Watching God

by Zora Neale Hurston

19,633 members

349 reviews

4

4 Members: hipdeep, ahef1963, kara.shamy, ManWithAnAgenda

35

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

by Michael Chabon

19,075 members

414 reviews

4.2

4 Members: hipdeep, aulsmith, ahef1963, kara.shamy

36

by Willa Cather

13,914 members

285 reviews

3.9

4 Members: k8_not_kate, dara85, ahef1963, kara.shamy

37

by Cormac McCarthy

11,992 members

280 reviews

4.2

4 Members: thecoroner, alex68, kara.shamy, FranzK72

38

11,240 members

171 reviews

3.8

4 Members: thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, FranzK72

39

The Long Winter

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

10,532 members

96 reviews

4.2

4 Members: hipdeep, dara85, aulsmith, ahef1963

40

The New York Trilogy

10,024 members

161 reviews

3.9

4 Members: thecoroner, ahef1963, FranzK72, ManWithAnAgenda

41

by Octavia E. Butler

8,742 members

358 reviews

4.2

4 Members: hipdeep, dara85, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

42

American Pastoral

8,227 members

178 reviews

3.9

4 Members: roby72, thecoroner, alex68, FranzK72

43

8,103 members

86 reviews

3.9

4 Members: roby72, thecoroner, alex68, FranzK72

44

The Adventures of Augie March

3,919 members

74 reviews

3.8

4 Members: roby72, thecoroner, alex68, FranzK72

45

by Sinclair Lewis

1,573 members

46 reviews

4

4 Members: aulsmith, thecoroner, alex68, FranzK72

46

by John Dos Passos

1,508 members

14 reviews

4

4 Members: aulsmith, thecoroner, alex68, FranzK72

47

by Ray Bradbury

55,349 members

1,014 reviews

4

3 Members: k8_not_kate, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

48

Slaughterhouse-Five

by Kurt Vonnegut

45,043 members

711 reviews

4.1

3 Members: k8_not_kate, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

49

The Sun Also Rises

by Ernest Hemingway

23,386 members

340 reviews

3.8

3 Members: k8_not_kate, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

50

A Confederacy of Dunces

by John Kennedy Toole

21,762 members

479 reviews

3.9

3 Members: hipdeep, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

51

The Fountainhead

19,490 members

259 reviews

3.8

3 Members: thecoroner, alex68, FranzK72

52

Uncle Tom's Cabin

by Harriet Beecher Stowe

17,515 members

189 reviews

3.8

3 Members: roby72, jaysbooks, sundharj

53

American Psycho

by Bret Easton Ellis

14,202 members

297 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: thecoroner, alex68, ManWithAnAgenda

54

by John Steinbeck

10,104 members

187 reviews

4

3 Members: hipdeep, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

55

This Side of Paradise

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

9,650 members

85 reviews

½ 3.6

3 Members: k8_not_kate, aulsmith, kara.shamy

56

9,373 members

179 reviews

½ 3.6

3 Members: k8_not_kate, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

57

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

by Fannie Flagg

9,113 members

189 reviews

4.1

3 Members: dara85, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

58

Absalom, Absalom!

by William Faulkner

7,832 members

105 reviews

4.1

3 Members: thecoroner, alex68, FranzK72

59

Revolutionary Road

by Richard Yates

6,887 members

246 reviews

4

3 Members: thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963

60

The Glass Menagerie

by Tennessee Williams

6,733 members

71 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: hipdeep, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

61

A Thousand Acres

6,253 members

137 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: ahef1963, kara.shamy, ManWithAnAgenda

62

We Were the Mulvaneys

by Joyce Carol Oates

6,241 members

94 reviews

½ 3.6

3 Members: thecoroner, alex68, FranzK72

63

5,281 members

60 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: thecoroner, alex68, FranzK72

64

The Stand: Expanded Edition: For the First Time Complete and Uncut (Signet)

by Stephen King

4,985 members

71 reviews

½ 4.5

3 Members: ahef1963, kara.shamy, ManWithAnAgenda

65

Mason and Dixon

by Thomas Pynchon

4,707 members

40 reviews

4

3 Members: thecoroner, alex68, FranzK72

66

by Flannery O'Connor

3,957 members

113 reviews

3.8

3 Members: ahef1963, kara.shamy, ManWithAnAgenda

67

by Christopher Isherwood

2,293 members

83 reviews

4

3 Members: aulsmith, alex68, ManWithAnAgenda

68

2,120 members

24 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: thecoroner, alex68, ManWithAnAgenda

69

American Gods {original}

33,228 members

929 reviews

4.1

3 Members: hipdeep, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda,aulsmith

70

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

24,583 members

297 reviews

4.1

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

71

by Gillian Flynn

22,765 members

1,540 reviews

3.9

2 Members: ahef1963, kara.shamy

72

The Secret History

21,093 members

557 reviews

4.1

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

73

The Call of the Wild

20,935 members

324 reviews

3.8

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

74

The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts

by Arthur Miller

15,748 members

164 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: jaysbooks, ManWithAnAgenda

75

The Last of the Mohicans

by James Fenimore Cooper

13,619 members

129 reviews

½ 3.5

3 Members: roby72, thecoroner, alex68,FranzK72

76

The Shipping News

by E. Annie Proulx

13,569 members

250 reviews

3.9

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

77

by David Foster Wallace

13,520 members

249 reviews

4.2

3 Members: roby72, thecoroner, alex68,ManWithAnAgenda

78

Song of Solomon

by Toni Morrison

11,090 members

123 reviews

4

2 Members: thecoroner, kara.shamy

79

I Know This Much is True

10,333 members

171 reviews

4.1

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

80

by Jonathan Franzen

9,687 members

408 reviews

3.8

2 Members: thecoroner, ManWithAnAgenda

81

Different Seasons

by Stephen King

9,160 members

123 reviews

4

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

82

The Bonfire of the Vanities

9,084 members

131 reviews

3.8

3 Members: roby72, thecoroner, alex68,jaysbooks

83

The House of the Seven Gables

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

8,891 members

115 reviews

½ 3.5

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

84

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

8,037 members

299 reviews

4.2

2 Members: alex68, kara.shamy

85

We Need to Talk About Kevin

by Lionel Shriver

7,914 members

398 reviews

4.1

2 Members: alex68, ahef1963

86

6,899 members

90 reviews

½ 4.3

2 Members: thecoroner, alex68

87

The Beautiful and Damned

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

6,386 members

69 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: aulsmith, kara.shamy

88

Ragtime: A Novel

by E. L. Doctorow

6,338 members

125 reviews

3.8

2 Members: thecoroner, alex68

89

The Prince of Tides

5,908 members

111 reviews

4.1

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

90

by Bret Easton Ellis

5,874 members

90 reviews

½ 3.4

2 Members: thecoroner, ManWithAnAgenda

91

by Thornton Wilder

5,244 members

70 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: aulsmith, ManWithAnAgenda

92

Tales of the City

by Armistead Maupin

5,041 members

108 reviews

3.9

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

93

Washington Square

4,494 members

88 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: alex68, ahef1963

94

What We Talk about When We Talk about Love

by Raymond Carver

3,964 members

63 reviews

4.1

2 Members: alex68, ManWithAnAgenda

95

Another Country

by James Baldwin

3,031 members

41 reviews

4.1

2 Members: aulsmith, ManWithAnAgenda

96

American Tabloid

by James Ellroy

2,889 members

43 reviews

4.1

2 Members: thecoroner, alex68

97

2,807 members

30 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: alex68, ManWithAnAgenda

98

The Confessions of Nat Turner

by William Styron

2,772 members

38 reviews

3.9

2 Members: thecoroner, alex68

99

Brokeback Mountain

by Annie Proulx

2,750 members

99 reviews

3.9

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

100

by William Kennedy

2,485 members

52 reviews

3.8

2 Members: aulsmith, ahef1963

1 2

About This List

Started: sturlington
July 2013
Type: Unnumbered

Related Lists

American Lit for Eng 11 Research Project

Names in Titles

The Atlantic's The Great American Novel

Best Workplace Fiction

Best of American Literature

Shannon's Read-Alikes List

Best Family Stories

Midwestern Books

Literary Travelogue of the United States Challenge

Current Discussions

None

Related Tags

1001 books (4,268) 19th century (5,190) 20th century (12,518) America (4,672) American (18,266) American fiction (4,076) American literature (29,372) classic (31,479) classics (31,949) ebook (3,971) family (4,830) fantasy (4,662) fiction (184,443) historical fiction (15,471) literature (27,158) New York (4,324) novel (30,937) own (6,847) Pulitzer Prize (4,681) read (20,784) science fiction (10,286) to-read (75,060) unread (6,484) USA (8,817) WWII (4,608)

Verdana Standard Verdana Small The Lorax System Standard System Large Georgia Large Text Atkinson

This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.