The Power Line guys posted a Memorial Day weekend list of the 21 best American novels. The list is mostly solid, except for a classic omission: John Steinbeck. English departments usually omit his works from their syllabi, for reasons that elude me (though I am told many English profs can’t stand his moralizing).
Hinderaker writes that they ignored “politics and sociology” in compiling the list, but when a friend suggests Grapes of Wrath, he replies, “No socialist realism for us, thank you!” So I guess politics were not ignored? Either Grapes or East of Eden deserve a place on any list of best American novels.
