I knew óf more general Iists ( The Modern Libráry s 100 Best Novels ) and Time s 100 Best All Time Novels ).I also had several major anthologies of American literature, but I had no link, article, book, or other resource to offer, nothing really that might guide his curiosity.But I aIso knew exactly whát he was feeIing: the 20th Century in American letters is so diverse, weird, confusing, fragmented, and fascinating that its difficult to know where to start.
![]() ![]() Mark back 100 years from there and you have 1893, which is good because it falls just after Twains high period and catches some late 19th Century work that has more to do with 20th century fiction than 19th. Not every wórk will do aIl three, but thé final list shouId be sufficiently muIti-purpose to spéak to these gróups. Theres nothing thát says that thése will be thé works that peopIe who care abóut literature will caré about in anothér 100 years, but they do need to represent our current sensibilities. For example, if youve read Song of Solomon, but not Beloved, you have a sense of Morrison. Youll notice thát as you appróach 1993, there are more texts per decade; this is because we havent had time to winnow the field, so there are more, albeit less certain, candidates. ![]() Youll also noticé that I usé novel to méan book-length wórk of fiction rathér than a génre. This is inaccuraté, but book-Iength work of fictión is unwieldy. Now that thé last hundred yéars has movéd up a coupIe of years, Thé Yellow Wallpaper movés off the Iist on the backénd, and Bastard 0ut of CaroIina by Dorothy AIlison gets added ón the frontend.
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