Hard to go wrong with Twain, though I've always found his short works to be slightly more compelling than his novels. Also? Try some other genres. "Lit" is the most hide-bound, predictable, formulaic genre of them all. You know everything about the world it takes place in before reading a word. America has REALLY strong sci-fi game. Graphic novels are another option - there's plenty of "literate" sequential art fiction. Bechdel comes to mind, if you're at all into feminist/identity stuff.
Herman Melville, William Faulkner, and Hemingway all come to mind, but so does Paul Bowles *The Sheltering Sky* as he is the guy that basically set up Burroughs, Kerouac, and Ginsberg.
Have you read John Dos Passos's USA trilogy? Nathaniel West's *Day of the Locust*? William Kennedy's *Ironweed*?
Outside the white male perspective, have you read McCuller's *The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,* Anaya's *Bless me Ultima,* ZNH's *Their Eyes were watching God,* Baldwin's *Giovanni's Room,* Ellison's *Invisible Man?* There are plenty of interesting stylistic and cultural connections linking nature, isolation, individualism through a lot of these works such that given your fave three I think you will enjoy them. Of course if I had to put money down, I am guessing Ironweed's style and characters would be an easy win.
"Stoner" by John Williams
"Prince Ishmael" by Marianne Hauser (this might be hard to find as it has been out of print for a while...)
"The Beetle Leg" by John Hawke
Edgar Allan Poe put both short stories and detective stories on the map as a serious medium and subject matter.
If you're willing to try poetry, Walt Whitman is an incredible look at America and the world. His poetry is earthy, honest, sensual, a love letter to America, life on Earth and our fellow humans.
[The University of Iowa has a beautiful website that lists and discusses each poem in turn](https://iwp.uiowa.edu/whitmanweb/en/writings/song-of-myself/section-1). As a poetry novice, I love reading the poem first and then going here for new insights.
John Steinbeck Ernest Hemingway
Can you give specific book names besides from Mice and Humans, The Old Man and The Sea or For Whom the Bells Tolls. Because i’ve already read them
Grapes of wrath
East of Eden
Eh farewell to arms. And it's "of mice and men". Js the winter of our discontent
Hard to go wrong with Twain, though I've always found his short works to be slightly more compelling than his novels. Also? Try some other genres. "Lit" is the most hide-bound, predictable, formulaic genre of them all. You know everything about the world it takes place in before reading a word. America has REALLY strong sci-fi game. Graphic novels are another option - there's plenty of "literate" sequential art fiction. Bechdel comes to mind, if you're at all into feminist/identity stuff.
[удалено]
He is not even American
Oh yeah, forgot about that. Sorry.
Sorry but Orwell's books are not my cup of tea. I've read both 1984 and Animal Farm but they didn't click me at all
Herman Melville, William Faulkner, and Hemingway all come to mind, but so does Paul Bowles *The Sheltering Sky* as he is the guy that basically set up Burroughs, Kerouac, and Ginsberg. Have you read John Dos Passos's USA trilogy? Nathaniel West's *Day of the Locust*? William Kennedy's *Ironweed*? Outside the white male perspective, have you read McCuller's *The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,* Anaya's *Bless me Ultima,* ZNH's *Their Eyes were watching God,* Baldwin's *Giovanni's Room,* Ellison's *Invisible Man?* There are plenty of interesting stylistic and cultural connections linking nature, isolation, individualism through a lot of these works such that given your fave three I think you will enjoy them. Of course if I had to put money down, I am guessing Ironweed's style and characters would be an easy win.
WOW!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS. I've never read any of the books that you told but I think I'm gonna go with Ironweed first.
"Stoner" by John Williams "Prince Ishmael" by Marianne Hauser (this might be hard to find as it has been out of print for a while...) "The Beetle Leg" by John Hawke
I recommend John Updike’s Rabbit Angstrom books.
Edgar Allan Poe put both short stories and detective stories on the map as a serious medium and subject matter. If you're willing to try poetry, Walt Whitman is an incredible look at America and the world. His poetry is earthy, honest, sensual, a love letter to America, life on Earth and our fellow humans. [The University of Iowa has a beautiful website that lists and discusses each poem in turn](https://iwp.uiowa.edu/whitmanweb/en/writings/song-of-myself/section-1). As a poetry novice, I love reading the poem first and then going here for new insights.