My 12 Great American Novels

This list was inspired by a Facebook status discussion (Thanks Marybeth). Here is my list of the 12 Great American Novels: the novels which have stood the test of time and define my American Experience.

Order of greatness determined how I feel at this exact moment (if I thought more about this the list would change continuously) - Title - Author's last name - 6 words of why it is great. (Because I need to get some breakfast going!)

1) The Great Gatsby – Fitzgerald - Eyes, The American Dream and Narration
2) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Twain - Humorous, Thoughtful Journey Down the River
3) Moby Dick – Melville - Sea of Complex Metaphors of Extremes
4) Catcher in the Rye – Salinger - America's vulgar, lying, phony-spotting, troubled teenager
5) The Sound and the Fury – Faulkner - Stream of consciousness of American mind
6) The Jungle – Sinclair - What we lost through our industrialization
7) To Kill a Mockingbird – Lee - Why our extreme litigiousness sometimes rocks
8) Grapes of Wrath – Steinbeck - Manifest destiny as tragic family tale
9) The Maltese Falcon – Hammett - Hard-boiled American justice of the individual
10) Confederacy of Dunces – Toole - Jester of immense intelligence and size
11) Fahrenheit 451 – Bradbury - Calling out of America's vacant intellect
12) Scarlet Letter – Hawthorne - Struggle between forward-thinking freedom and puritanism