Who is the "Mount Rushmore" of American literature?

Absolutely. I was thinking Poe, Twain, Morrison, and possibly Alcott. How I forgot Dickinson, I don’t know. She’s way better than Alcott imo but she didn’t come to mind.

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AbbreviationsTop4959@reddit

Any such list has to start with Twain

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Puzzleheaded_Math973@reddit

Twain is above Rushmore in status. Fight me.

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AbbreviationsTop4959@reddit

How? This is the only acceptable position in opposition to my statement.

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abaggs802606@reddit

Mark Twain codified American humor. His voice is uniquely American.

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Zone4805@reddit

If someone said Melville i havnt seen it. He’s the godfather. First time American literature was actually called literature.

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Perplexio76@reddit

I'd drop Melville in favor of Fitzgerald.

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thatrightwinger@reddit

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Mark Twain, Washington Irving, Edgar Allen Poe.

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Sufficient_Cow_7132@reddit

19th century Twain and Mellville. 20th century Pynchon

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Is there any American (kids not included) who doesn't know at least FIVE Stephen King stories? His cultural impact is huge. And King is 100% American -- every book is deeply grounded in American customs, settings, and idioms.

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getElephantById@reddit

1860: "Is there not a child in these United States who has not thrilled to the many adventures of Natty Bumppo, in the Leatherstocking Tales of James Fenimore Cooper?"

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Curmudgy@reddit

The only ones I can name on my own are Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption. There might be one or two others that I'd recognize as his and probably more that I'd recognize but not realize are his. I couldn't come up with five on my own.

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JayRandom212@reddit

Here's a list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_adaptations_of_works_by_Stephen_King

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Curmudgy@reddit

I know how to find such lists. My point was that "Is there any American ...who doesn't know at least FIVE Stephen King stories" is hyperbolic.

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JayRandom212@reddit

Did you find three more stories on the list that you knew? I mean "stories", not books...so if you know the plot of The Shining (1980), it counts.

My "five stories" statement is hyperbolic...but I don't think it's crazy. King has had a huge cultural impact.

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Curmudgy@reddit

I don’t know the plot of The Shining. I’ve heard the title, but didn’t know it was Stephen King. I’ve already admitted that there are more titles that I’d recognize without knowing they’re Stephen King.

I’m not sure why you’re counting adaptations.

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Proof-Ad3637@reddit

I’ll throw Proulx in there

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Grungemaster@reddit

I’d swap Melville for Toni Morrison.

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SabresBills69@reddit

when were those selected for mt Rushmore? if we built it today would those & be on it?

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NoGuarantee3961@reddit

If Rushmore were built today, literally it would be 4 poses of Trump...

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sixthmusketeer@reddit

If it’s just novelists, the list is Melville, Twain, Morrison, Faulkner. With poets: Whitman, Dickinson, Melville, Twain.

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jseego@reddit

lol I literally just did that in my reply. 🤜 🤛

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winnielikethepooh15@reddit

I second this.

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NoGuarantee3961@reddit

Mark Twain is likely at the top. I haven't seen Harper Lee on many comments, but Tequila Mockingbird is the best selling novel, or at least used to be....

How about Laura Engalls Wilder.

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ViewtifulGene@reddit

John Steinbeck, Stephen Crane, Edgar Allen Poe, Kurt Vonnegut.

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UsualScared859@reddit

Twain, Whitman, Miller, Morrison. 2 novelists, a poet, and a playwright.

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Cornwallis400@reddit

Twain. Poe. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Hemingway.

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GreenBeanTM@reddit

Susanne Colin’s should be there for a modern author

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Desperate_Ambrose@reddit

Washington Irving, Mark Twain, Hemingway, Fitzgerald

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shifty1032231@reddit

Personally

Poe, Twain, Fitzgerald, McCarthy

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SoutheastBeerTravels@reddit

Twain, Hemingway, Faulkner, and Eliot

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Dapper-Presence4975@reddit

I’d skip Hemingway… very overrated.

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Whybaby16154@reddit

“ Democracy in America” De Toqueville

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OfficePicasso@reddit

Feel like Cormac McCarthy should be on it but issue is who do you take off

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timdr18@reddit

You can’t not have King on the list. His combination of volume and quality is unbelievable. And to anyone who says “horror isn’t literature”, an argument I have heard in real life, would you say that Frankenstein or Dracula aren’t literature?

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Curmudgy@reddit

If volume is what counts, you'd have to go with Isaac Asimov, though a majority of his books are nonfiction.

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timdr18@reddit

I’d have no problem putting Asimov on the list, hugely influential in the sci-fi sphere

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Ickyhouse@reddit

Kings books have had some of the greatest influence on film out of any of those authors. Look at how many of his books are not just movies, but classics. THATS influence.

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Bandag5150@reddit

Oh yeah? Name one Steven King movie or television adaptation.

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beenoc@reddit

For anyone who doesn't get the obvious sarcasm, it's there because this Wikipedia page is absurdly long.

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Bandag5150@reddit

Thanks. Sarcasm is hard to convey in text.

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Cheap_Coffee@reddit

Hint: /s

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Cudi_buddy@reddit

Plus, he has a number of non horror that are some of his best. Green mile and 11/22/63 for instance.

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mdavis360@reddit

Plus his best book 11/22/63 isn’t even horror. And it a flat out masterpiece.

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pwolf1111@reddit

I concur

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curiousleen@reddit

Agreed.

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Swrdmn@reddit

Steinbeck, Hemingway, King, Vonnegut

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Cudi_buddy@reddit

Glad to see some king love. Prolific writer who does the best characters and settings I’ve read. His towns feel alive which is something I don’t know I’ve felt from another author

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Swrdmn@reddit

lol I’m honestly not a fan of his books. But you’d be hard pressed to name a more culturally relevant writer than King.

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DrBlankslate@reddit

Stephen King is American literature, no matter how much the literature snobs hate that fact.

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NatAttack50932@reddit

The literary snobs have slowly come around to him too. The snobbery was a really visceral reaction to his prolific writing pace.

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_NEW_HORIZONS_@reddit

If he could curb the over-detailed toileting bits, I'd be a bigger fan for sure. I've never been as big on his horror stuff, though. It's really surprising how broad his catalog is. Sci-fi, fantasy, crime, drama, thriller.

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Cudi_buddy@reddit

The longevity is impressive as hell for sure.

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Drew707@reddit

It would be a coinflip for me on Twain and Steinbeck.

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Ickyhouse@reddit

I’d have Twain over Steinbeck too. The other 4 are solid shouts. I can’t believe people have Melville as a top 4 when he’s had basically 1 major book. I’d put Dr Seuss on there before him. I could see arguments against Vonnegut, but he’s still a solid choice. King has to be a lock.

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Swrdmn@reddit

Yeah… Steinbeck is only a slight favorite between the two. Twain can have his own monument somewhere on the Mississippi.

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Drew707@reddit

He was pretty prolific out west, though.

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Swrdmn@reddit

Yes, but before becoming a writer he was an apprentice river boat pilot. In St. Louis I believe.

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Drew707@reddit

Oh, for sure. His pen name is actually taken from the name of a device they used to measure depth. Sawyer and Finn are American mainstays. I was just saying he also wrote about Nevada and California, too, and spent a lot of time out here.

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BeigePhilip@reddit

Modern trends aside, this really is it.

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CupBeEmpty@reddit

Vonnegut is a solid choice. His mural in Indianapolis is wonderful. He loves the city but also hates it.

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NatAttack50932@reddit

Twain, Hemingway, Faulkner and, I'm gonna throw a curveball and put in a playwright instead, Arthur Miller

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Cerulean_IsFancyBlue@reddit

Twain, Cooper, Poe, Whitman

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Difficult_Pause_4350@reddit

Twain, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Faulkner. HM’s to Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, Poe, Melville, Fitzgerald, Toni Morrison, Thoreau, etc etc etc

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ChadTitanofalous@reddit

Faulkner, Hemingway, Poe, Twain

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ElizibethBathory@reddit

Hunter S. Thompson, Truman Capote, Stephen King, Mark Twain, Shirley Jackson.

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dontforgettowriteme@reddit

I have to pick just four?

Steinbeck, Alcott, Morrison, and Hemingway.

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mardok69@reddit

Twain, Poe, Steinbeck, Zane Grey

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DOMSdeluise@reddit

I will do the poets: Eliot, Whitman, Stevens, H.D.

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MarkTheDuckHunter@reddit

Poe, Twain, Faulkner, Eudora Welty.

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Material-Park-673@reddit

Twain, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Kerouac

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No_Construction7278@reddit

Bernard Malamud, John Updike, Theodore Drieser, Philip Roth

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Responsible-View-804@reddit

Twain, Hawthorne, Fitzgerald and King

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CloudedLeopardDaemon@reddit

I agree with OP's, and I'd also add Edgar Allan Poe.

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ucbiker@reddit

I switch Faulkner for Melville but otherwise agreed.

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Latter_Praline2150@reddit

Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Kurt Vonnegut are three I'd argue very hard for, each being the master of pre-modern, modern and post-modern American lit.

The fourth I'm not certain about. I recognize there's a strong argument for Toni Morrison although I must confess I've never read her. I honestly think that Stephen King is worth considering for the simple reason that it's likely more Americans have read a King novel than one from any other author, at least when you exclude the books we were made to read in school. I personally have a huge soft spot for Jack London. I know others in this threat have argued Poe, but I don't quite agree, as influential as his work was I don't think it really stands up on its own compared to the three names of above. Even though I've only read Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry should absolutely be in the conversation. Also, considering how huge high fantasy has become in popular culture and that books are still the preferred medium for fans of that genre, I'd even throw Brandon Sanderson's name in there.

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Any_Nectarine_7806@reddit

Melville, Morrison, O'Connor, Faulkner

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Reliable_Narrator_@reddit

Hemingway or James Fenimore Cooper but maybe not both.

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edgarjwatson@reddit

Hawthorne, Twain, Poe, Hemingway, Faulkner

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PlanningMyEscape@reddit

Not sure i understand the question. Mt Rushmore original name is Six Grandfather's Mountain. The Black Hills, where this is located, is considered sacred to and was stolen illegally from the Lakota Sioux violating the Ft Laramie Treaty. They fought to keep it, but we're forced off and back to their reservations when gold was discovered in the Black Hills, though the Treaty granted this land to them in perpetuity.

In the 1920s some white guy from Connecticut decided it would be great to carve a monument to celebrate the very same men who had oppressed, killed, and stolen from the Lakota.

So, Rushmore is a slap in the face to a lot of Native Americans and is pretty controversial. Which American writers best embody that story?

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MrBobSaget@reddit

Dude. Come on. You understand the question.

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Curmudgy@reddit

My initial take on the question is that Mark Twain is the only author whose face is sufficiently well known to belong on such a monument. Why even use such wording if your didn't intend an actual monument?

While I accept the interpretations that others have used, it's unreasonable to dismiss a plain English interpretation.

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PlanningMyEscape@reddit

I think that he's asking for the most "American" author, he could also be asking about the presidents themselves who were published, or the author who wrote the best presidential biography? Or early 20th century authors accused of plagiarism.

But, if you want a super "American" author, I'd say, Dee Brown. If you want a biography about a president, try, "The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey" by Candice Millard. Most prolific presidential author? That's Jimmy Carter (not really a surprise!). For the last point, there are many to choose from but i think the most interesting American authors accused of plagiarism are Helen Keller and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

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FormerKey3258@reddit

Insufferable.

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PlanningMyEscape@reddit

What makes it insufferable? It's true, and it makes the question difficult to understand in that there's a large population who don't think of Rushmore as a real monument. It wasn't really government backed at the time. It's a monument now, but it's got a complicated history.

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BlindPelican@reddit

Twain, Phillip K Dick, Poe and then a toss-up between Asimov and Tennessee Williams, for me.

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Soggy_Cup1314@reddit

Steinbeck, Hemingway, Faulkner, and Twain. Honorable mention is McCarthy. Those 5 are American literature.

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jjack0310@reddit

Salinger

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MiserableMemory5149@reddit

Steinbeck, Irving, Twain, Toni Morrison

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altarwisebyowllight@reddit

Faulkner would like to have a run-on sentence with you.

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DankBlunderwood@reddit

It gets crowded after Twain and Hemingway. Any of Toni Morrison, Cormac McCarthy, Faulkner, Pynchon, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost.

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jseego@reddit

Hemingway, Steinbeck, Twain, Toni Morrison

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Technical-Cap-8563@reddit

Twain, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Steinbeck.

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therealsanchopanza@reddit

Faulkner has to be included. He put on paper the feelings of generations of southerners haunted by their collective past in a way that they probably couldn’t articulate.

Steinbeck can get bent and east of Eden is massively overrated

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prometheus_winced@reddit

I think it would be hard to beat OPs list. As mentioned Poe is probably the most influential on modern western fiction writing, though.

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JoeBourgeois@reddit

Whitman, Dickinson, Melville, Faulkner.

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ALoungerAtTheClubs@reddit

Flanner O'Connor belongs on the list

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paradisetossed7@reddit

I'm so depressed at how many answers are just four white men. Don't get me wrong, every white man I've seen listed has earned his flowers. But there are great, and well-known female/POC American authors out there too. O'Connor is amazing but I'm not sure if I would prefer her or Shirley Jackson.

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Guruski2001@reddit

How fantastic is The Lottery? My grandma made me read it when I was a kid, and thank goodness she did.

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paradisetossed7@reddit

That was the first book I read by her in school. Later I read The Haunting of Hill House and was mesmerized.

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RandomPaw@reddit

Pearl S. Buck, Willa Cather, Emily Dickinson, Zora Neale Hurston, Edith Wharton, Harper Lee, Alice Walker, all worthy of consideration.

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paradisetossed7@reddit

I have to add Sylvia Plath and Toni Morrison!

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Positive-Catch-8094@reddit

Twain, Melville, Faulkner, Morrison

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RandomPaw@reddit

Faulkner

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MrBobSaget@reddit

Twain, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Faulkner/Steinbeck toss up for the fourth spot. I get the argument for Poe but I think we’re talking broader influence and if I’m being ruthless, I’d put Faulkner/Steinbeck up there as more broadly classic American influence versus Poe’s deeply, deeply impactful contributions but in a more siloed sense. And honestly…depending on the wind is blowing that day, I could argue differently. I hate that I don’t have any women on the list cause wtf, but I just don’t know who I’d put in here that could edge that gentlemen I’ve listed. Dorothy Parker, Flannery O’Connor? Despite being giants, they’re unfortunately eclipsed in my humblest of opinions by the men I’ve already listed. For better or worse.

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dangleicious13@reddit

King, Butler, Le Guin, Jemisin

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CFBCoachGuy@reddit

Twain, O’Connor, Cooper, Hemingway

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CupBeEmpty@reddit

Twain, Hunter S Thompson, Poe, Emily Dickinson, Hemingway.

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ThomisticAttempt@reddit

Hawthorne, Whitman, Dickinson, and for good measure, Pound.

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ar46and2@reddit

None of these has had the cultural impact of Washington Irving. He really for the ball rolling on making Christmas what it is today

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baycommuter@reddit

Twain, Steinbeck, Faulkner, Willa Cather.

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Adorable_Dust3799@reddit

Thoreau, Twain, Hemmingway and i hate Steinbeck but he deserves a spot

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jbenze@reddit

I hate Hemmingway but same.

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cocuke@reddit

Hemingway did some great stuff, just not the stuff I found to be great. I read most of what I could of his hoping for some connection, but The Snows of Kilimanjaro was the only one that did anything for me. Jack Kerouac is another that does nothing for me despite how much people like him.

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Adorable_Dust3799@reddit

Yeah he's not my style either, but he was an immense influence that can't be dismissed. Both of them.

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jbenze@reddit

Absolutely.

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PainInTheAssDean@reddit

A significant lack of Faulkner on these lists

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baycommuter@reddit

I think he’s just too difficult for modern audiences and his racial views, liberal at the time, are hard to understand today (assuming Isaac McCaslin is his stand-in).

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