Sometimes a Great Notion, by Ken Kesey It has all the elements previously cited, plus rebellion against the establishment by both the liberal and the conservative in search of independence.

I adore House of Mirth, but it seems, to me, as outdated as Gatsby when it comes to this kind of issue. What about Beloved? I mean, American Psycho is a great pick if all of America were white and wealthy and vacuous. While no novel can "represent" everyone in a nation as diverse as the United States, it seems to me that the emotions and situations in Beloved are something more people (not just African Americans) can relate to than the sociopathic irony of American Psycho, even though I like the novel. In the end, Beloved is not just a novel about slavery, but about family history, maternal love and responsibility, desire, and (again, that quintessential American theme) reinvention. And, of course, it's also about race, which continues to be one of the core, defining issues in this country, even more so, I would venture to say, than our label consciousness and status seeking ala Ellis.

Both of these are really interesting choices... Gina, Beloved is a great pick, and it actually makes sense to me in THIS context -- I don't think Beloved is the Great American novel when it comes to writing (that's because it has always struck me as more of a prose poem), but when it comes to the grestest novel representing American perspective, it's a strong contender.

i would have to say light in august by faulkner

On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

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Thanks for selecting Edith Wharton. My problem with most American fiction by men is that it is always about how the son measures up to Dad. We do the same thing but worry about mom. My pic. Probably GONE WITH THE WIND.

Gatsby is still getting my vote. It's not just the tragedy of a lovesick guy. It's the tragedy of a country with a propensity for building people up before tearing them down again and - please don't hit me! - it's the tragedy of the lonely human condition.

Sorry, but you're all wrong. The Great American Novel is still Huckleberry Finn - closely followed by Gone With the Wind and To Kill A Mockingbird.

My vote: Of Time and the River by Thomas Wolfe. It is an epic narrative of America's quest for righteouness and perfection.

I would have to vote for To Kill a Mockingbird. The struggles of prejudice and human growth, against a system mired in the status quo, gets me every time. The bravery of Atticus and the innocent nature of childhood wonder are central themes to Haper Lee's moving tale. It also shows us, with childlike clarity,our greatest fear...the unknown. I feel it exhibits the best and worst at America's core.

Often overlooked (and badly made into a film) John Fante's Ask the Dust possesses all the elements of the "Great American Novel" and reaches across and to all generations.

"the best novel written by an American that most clearly reflects the spirit, character and destiny of America, both its good and bad sides, its mistakes and its triumphs"-- In terms of reflecting these in a current timeframe--today's, as opposed to the "lasting-principles-but-outdated-time-periods" of some of the other books mentioned above: Richard Ford's "Independence Day." (His other two in this trilogy--"The Sportswriter" and "The Lay of the Land"--do as well, but if I have to choose one, "ID" likely has the clearest answer to the above criteria.)

Hemingway is the greatest American novelist. Pick one.

I'll err a bit on the side of a more modern choice and say that I feel like reinvention, tragedy, and the eventual making-good and reaching for your dreams describes The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay quite well.

If Richard Ford's Independence Day is the best reflection of American spirit, then I'll change my vote to American Psycho.

Sometimes you have to change to angle of vision to get the whole picture in. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. Isabel Archer is meant to represent "the spirit, character and destiny of America, both its good and bad sides, its mistakes and its triumphs". Her quintessential American innocence leads to her tragedy.

Confederacy of Dunces approaches perfection.

Winter's Tale, by Mark Helprin

Sister Carrie reflects the hardness of our economic and social system.

I'm thinking "The Lords of Discipline" by Pat Conroy. It deals with the inner struggle for identity and ethics at the same time. The main character is saddled with a responsibility that brings him into direct confrontation with who he is and what he believes about justice on several levels. As a student he is in a state of re-invention anyway, some of his dearest dreams are horribly dashed. And all of leads back to the treachery of his closest friend.

Pick 'em - Great Gatsby, Old Man and the Sea and To Kill a Mockingbird.

I'm not sure any book can be declared THE Great American Novel. And if Miller thinks we've outgrown Steinbeck, then presumably we'd eventually outgrow all the other GAN candidates too. Sorry Melville, James, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Wharton ... we're so beyond all you folks now. Too bad. If I had to pick one though, assuming that the usual candidates were now out of the running, at the moment I'd lean toward the work of Don Robertson in general and his 1978 novel MYSTICAL UNION in particular. It's a crime that Robertson is out of print -- the Library of America should bring his work back in its entirety. Bests to all, --tr

hemingway is the great american author but did not write a great novel about america ... THE GREAT GATSBY is at the top as well EAST OF EDEN ... don't overlook RAINTREE COUNTY by ross lockridge, jr. ...

Kavalier and Clay and The Sportswriter sound good to me as contemporary bets - Huck Finn and Jay Gatsby duke it out for the great dead.

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I love so many. The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, Of Mice and Men, To Kill A Mockingbird...

Lots of good picks. I just re-read Sinclair Lewis' "Elmer Gantry." I love his acerbic observations of the American mentality. Love Dreiser, although many consider him second-rate. "Grapes of Wrath" gotta be on the list. More contemporary guys: Philip Roth, Russell Banks, Joyce Carol Oates. I'm ambivalent about Joan Didion (I like her non-fiction better than her fiction.) For sheer entertainment - Tom Wolfe. (The RIght Stuff still holds up.) I just tried to read Hunter Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but I found it tedious after the first hundred pages.

I'll second Sometimes a Great Notion and also recommend Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.

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Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer.