I know it's antiquated and politically incorrect, but has anyone mentioned Tropic of Cancer? Now THAT'S the American spirit, for good and ill. Exuberant and ruminative, joyful and disgusting, hyperbolic and ... well, hyperbolic.

Greatest of Era would be good; Gone With The Wind holds up vividly in spite of the late 1920's "happy slaves" mythos, and I have to nominate Salem's Lot by Stephen King for our timestream; his real-time early 70's setting is classic and he makes the whole concept plausible in spite of the absurdity of the premise. Manages to slip a certain amount of honestly lyrical imagery in there, too...

Gatsby! What's more American than reinventing oneself (election cycle after election cycle if nothing else); yearning for the unattainable green light across the water; rampant riches, and no sense of self-preservation. Either that or Jacqueline Susann's The Love Machine.

ALl my friends are sick of hearing about this book from me, but I'd posit "A Winter's Tale" by Mark Helprin--best book ever about New York, but also America. The book is magical, profound, sweeping yet personal, and full of amazing imagery!

I second Gone With the Wind.

Yay on the vote for Mark Helprin! He's wonderful. I placed links to the first of these posts (and the original Chicago Trib article) on my livejournal and had nominations for Winesburg, Ohio (I don't remember the author) and American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I'll add to my Michael Chabon (Kavalier & Clay) selection from the last comments section with Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore and Marvel 1602, a graphic novel by Neil Gaiman. Who says the Great American Novel has to be prose?

I'd have to vote for William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. In my opinion, you can't get any more American than that.

Kevin, I love your vote for 'Salem's Lot;' it's got me thinking about other Books of the '70s. Ann Beattie's 'Chilly Scenes of Winter' (not a novel, but still... ) evokes the era for me. Jennifer, yay on Helprin. I love (not American in spirit, but so good) 'A Soldier of the Great War.' 'The Sound and the Fury,' adaughetee, really is quintessentially American. That's a strong contender. But so Southern. Hmmm. Maybe we need a regional list, too. Wharton, James: New England... and so forth...

Gravity's Rainbow.

Re: Alanna's comment above, totally with you on Helprin and Winesburg, Ohio (by Sherwood Anderson, I think). But American Gods and 1602 I think are disqualified (I know Gaiman lives in Minneapolis these days, but he's still a British citizen, isn't he?)

I previously suggested Of Time and the River; if we want to consider a series on a single theme, I think John Updike's Rabbit books dissect 20th century American character more vividly than any other books I have read. Any more votes for this?

Absalom, Absalom! The best work by Faulkner, America's best novelist, in my opinion. Not just about the South, but about coming to terms with the history of a land, both the good and the bad, as well as the American pasttime of myth-making. If not that, then Huck Finn, In Our Time (Hemingway), or Grapes of Wrath (not that dusty!).

Re: Meredith's comments: You're right. We've been batting Gaiman's nationality about on my blog as well. I'd though he might be a citizen, as he's lived here for some time, but can find no evidence to support that position. He'll have to be disqualified. (Apologies if this posts twice; I typed it once and submitted, and it seemed to not go through.)

Second subnission, 1st didn't seem to go thorugh. Winters Tale is a great book, but I would vote for Grapes of Wrath and To Kill A Mockingbird. Gatsby and Gone with the wind are great but I dont feel they capture the truse american spirit.

Amercica Pastoral

For starters: 1)Saul Bellow's "The Adventures of Augie March" 2)Budd Schulberg's "What Makes Sammy Run?" 3)Robert Penn Warren's "All the King's Men"