11 Best American Authors You Must Read

In this video, I profile 11 of the best American authors. These are a few of the many amazing American authors who have contributed their talents to the history of Western literature.

Watch my video to find out more, and check out my article on the subject below.

Best American Authors of All-Time: 11 Famous Authors and Their Works

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[foureyefreak]

Thanks! I agree with your choice of the best American writers, but perhaps Jack London worth an honorable mention, if not included on the list.

[nathanieladams]

I’ve read almost every novel and short story by F Scott Fitzgerald. He had a magic way with words that is rare with most authors. The Great Gatsby is my favorite novel.
“So we beat on, boats against the current, bourne back ceaselessly into the past.

[Semogaberkah]

I am a student from Indonesia, and currently I am studying literature. Its very visible once you read the text, when explaining

[ronb]

Hi Bryan, I've watched and really enjoyed all your great books videos, and I must say we have remarkably similar taste. This is the only one for which I feel compelled to suggest a few additions. To me one of the most moving and best structured classics and one with some of the most evocative language is Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. I was surprised, since our preferences match up so well, not to see Henry James on the list. The Portrait of a Lady, The Ambassadors and The Americans I believe are among the greatest psychological novels ever. I'd also include Richard Wright, especially for Native Son. Perhaps you later felt Harper Lee deserves to be on the list for the magnificent, moving To Kill a Mockingbird since you included it in your more recent Classic Literature video.

[PastorKThroop]

I'm always surprised that James Fenimore Cooper never seems to make any of these lists, despite the fact that he was one of the first prominent truly 'American' authors and that so many of his books are still in print. I suspect one reason for his decline in the eyes of many is due to Samuel Clemens' incredibly unfair attack on him, in which he almost entirely misrepresented Cooper's work. I know it is difficult to narrow down the list when selecting only eleven authors, and Cooper certainly shouldn't be put ahead of many on the list, but he helped put American authors on the map, and he really does deserve at least some recognition. Anyway, it was a good list, but maybe think about adding Cooper as an honorable mention at least.

[davidsigler]

I think James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, or Nathaniel Hawthorne would be considered the true contenders for the Father's of American Literature not Mark Twain; Twain was certainly more popular and wrote more, but it's of course debatable the Father of American Literature title is great video.

[francesca]

My favorite american writer is Jack London. But I'm European and this author seems to be loved more here than in America. Am I right ?

[estrellasantiago]

I would recommend Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Shirley Jackson

[kmurph]

I just read Sun Also Rises by Hemmingway. I believe you're wrong. Hemingway's book capitulated him to being the most prominent American author. It was banned in some locations...Fitzgerald on the other-hand was not born wealthy but had an infatuation with a younger upper class girl while at Princeton who picked a man with money. He said he the third and fourth most important things, looks and intelligence, but not the most important an animal magnetism and money (to paraphrase). This became a great theme for his tragic life. And yes, The Great Gatsby was not well received at the time!

[brakeduster]

It's Cormac McCarthy for me. The American James Joyce.

[brian]

Good video. Edgar Allan Poe gets left out all to often. Also, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter, which has been called the best novel ever written by an American. And lesser known Nathanael West, who wrote among the modernists.

[mctaguer]

Pynchon. Absolutely MUST be on such a list. I would add Poe as well.

[jamesstrom]

For those interested in American literature, one would consider Ambrose Bierce. In a crowded field, I don’t suggest he’s unfairly omitted from this list, but a too 20, certainly.

[gs]

Salinger & Heller are each famous for only one major success and so I would not have selected them. It is probably only me but I don't care for Faulkner or Morrison. I think you overlooked two major women writers: Willa Cather & Edith Wharton. Wharton is the greatest American writer, in my opinion. She hardly ever writes a boring novel or short story. Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammet might deserve consideration.

[mr.t]

Review some Thomas C. Stuhr
Lesser known American author.
💀💀💀

[christopheryuen]

Poe, Roth, McCarthy, Delillo, Wallace

[psikeyhackr]

Kurt Vonnegut said that being classified as a science fiction writer was like "being put into a drawer being used as a urinal."

Science Fiction is FUTURE oriented. How many high school English literature teachers do not own smartphones today. Too much time is wasted on boring out of date "literature". I read "The Scarlet Letter" In high school. I tolerated it. I refused to read "Catcher in the Rye".

Try:

*Daemon & Freedom* by Daniel Suarez

The Two Cultures essay by C P Snow covers the topic pretty well.

[amirhosseinm]

Great! But why didn't mention Jack London?

[tma-]

I read "Slaughter House Five" after a YouTube creator recommended it. I thought it was boring, repetitive, and ridiculous. If that novel is considered his greatest work, I won't be reading him again. And so it goes.

[RB-tctw]

Pynchon, Updike, Roth.
And, most of all, Henry James.
(And, necessarily, Nabokov, IF he counts.)