The Best of America’s
20th Century Authors
1. J. D. Salinger
(1919-2010)
Since its 1951 debut, The Catcher in the Rye has sold more than 60,000,000 copies; seventy years later, Holden Caulfield is still discovered by thousands of adolescents.
Since its 1951 debut, The Catcher in the Rye has sold more than 60,000,000 copies; seventy years later, Holden Caulfield is still discovered by thousands of adolescents.
2. Harper Lee
(1926-2016)
Her only book was the Pulitizer-prize-winning To Kill A Mockingbird; sixty-one years later, it is still read and revered from Africa to America. The work helped dislodge some of America’s stubbornly embedded ideas about race.
Her only book was the Pulitizer-prize-winning To Kill A Mockingbird; sixty-one years later, it is still read and revered from Africa to America. The work helped dislodge some of America’s stubbornly embedded ideas about race.
3. Tennessee Williams
(1911-1983)
America’s Shakespeare wrote poetically–and prolifically about love, hate, and envy in a myriad of masterpieces:
A Streetcar Named Desire; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; The Glass Menagerie.
America’s Shakespeare wrote poetically–and prolifically about love, hate, and envy in a myriad of masterpieces:
A Streetcar Named Desire; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; The Glass Menagerie.
4. Maya Angelou
(1928-2014)
Poet; Performer; Playwright; Author of cookbooks;
Seven memoirs, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
Poet; Performer; Playwright; Author of cookbooks;
Seven memoirs, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
5. Joan Didion
(b. 1934)
Essayist. Hollywood Script Writer. Novelist. Known for the acerbic
The White Album; Play It as It Lays; The Year of Magical Thinking.
Essayist. Hollywood Script Writer. Novelist. Known for the acerbic
The White Album; Play It as It Lays; The Year of Magical Thinking.
6. Willa Cather
(1873-1947)
Known for her life-on-the-plains novels:
My Antonia; O Pioneers! Lucy Gayheart,
and the Pulitzer prize winning, One of Ours.
Known for her life-on-the-plains novels:
My Antonia; O Pioneers! Lucy Gayheart,
and the Pulitzer prize winning, One of Ours.
7. Toni Morrison
(1931-2019)
The Bluest Eye; Sula; Tar Baby, and Beloved.
First African American Woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (1993).
The Bluest Eye; Sula; Tar Baby, and Beloved.
First African American Woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (1993).
8. Truman Capote
(1924-1984)
His childhood friend and neighbor, Harper Lee, assisted with the In Cold Blood research; he wrote Other Voices, Other Rooms; The Grass Harp; and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
His childhood friend and neighbor, Harper Lee, assisted with the In Cold Blood research; he wrote Other Voices, Other Rooms; The Grass Harp; and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
9. Anne Tyler
(b. 1941)
Baltimore; Quirky families. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant;
The Accidental Tourist; Noah’s Compass; Clock Dance.
Deserves the Nobel.
Baltimore; Quirky families. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant;
The Accidental Tourist; Noah’s Compass; Clock Dance.
Deserves the Nobel.
10. John Steinbeck
(1902-1968)
An oeuvre about conflict; The Grapes of Wrath; The Pearl; Of Mice and Men.
1962 Nobel Prize Recipient.
An oeuvre about conflict; The Grapes of Wrath; The Pearl; Of Mice and Men.
1962 Nobel Prize Recipient.
Sources: The Grateful American Foundation
Ranking the 10 Best American Authors from the 20th Century–Ed A. Murray
