20 th century

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) An American Tragedy by Theodore Dresier (1925) For whom the bell tolls by Ernest Hemingway (1926) The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (1929) The Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934) Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1936) The Pearl by John Steinbeck (1939) All the Kings Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946) The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer (1948) The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951) Herzog by Saul Bellow (1953) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960) Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov (1958)

Depression-era literature DepressionDepression era literature was blunt and direct in its social criticism. John Steinbeck (1902–1968). His style was simple and evocative, winning him the favor of the readers but not of the critics. Steinbeck often wrote about poor, working-class people and their struggle to lead a decent and honest life. John Steinbeck Henry MillerHenry Miller assumed a unique place in American Literature in the 1930s when his semi- autobiographical novels, written and published in Paris, were banned from the US. His major work is Tropic of Cancer. Tropic of Cancer

Post–World War II The period in time from the end of World War II up until the late 1960s and early 1970s saw the publication of some of the most popular works in American history such as To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee Though born in Canada, Chicago-raised Saul Bellow would become one of the most influential novelists in America in the decades directly following World War II. In Herzog Bellow painted vivid portraits of the American city and the distinctive characters.Saul BellowHerzog

From J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, the perceived madness of the state of affairs in America was brought to the forefront of the nation's literary expression.J.D. Salinger The Catcher in the Rye Immigrant authors such as Vladimir Nabokov, with Lolita, forged on with the theme and took a concerted step away from their Lost Generation predecessors, developing a style and tone of their own.Vladimir Nabokov LolitaLost Generation

Nobel Prize in Literature winners 1930: Sinclair Lewis (novelist)Sinclair Lewis 1936: Eugene O'Neill (playwright)Eugene O'Neill 1938: Pearl S. Buck (biographer and novelist)Pearl S. Buck 1948: T. S. Eliot (poet and playwright)T. S. Eliot 1949: William Faulkner (novelist)William Faulkner 1954: Ernest Hemingway (novelist)Ernest Hemingway 1962: John Steinbeck (novelist)John Steinbeck 1976: Saul Bellow (novelist)Saul Bellow 1978: Isaac Bashevis Singer (novelist, wrote in Yiddish)Isaac Bashevis Singer 1980: Czesław Miłosz (poet and essayist, wrote in Polish)Czesław Miłosz 1987: Joseph Brodsky (poet and essayist, wrote in English and Russian)Joseph Brodsky 1993: Toni Morrison (novelist)Toni Morrison