Americana

[holzy1139]

Recently I have developed an interest in what is, I supppose, known as "americana"...I always feel silly using this comparison but I guess it makes sense: books that are like Springsteen songs. You know, stories about young men and women in small towns dealing with issues of independence, regret, redemption, crime, all that good old American crap haha. It can be novels from any era really, but I'd love to discover some contemporary works that I've never heard of.

If it helps, I'm currently reading Steinbeck's East of Eden and loving it.

Thanks!

[Calidore]

James Michener's Centennial may be right up your alley.

[OrphanPip]

I'm not sure where to draw the line between Americana and just regular American literature in this description though.

I'll give it a shot:

Willa Cather - anything
James Baldwin - Go Tell it on the Mountain
Langston Hughes - Poetry
Walt Whitman - Leaves of Grass
Alice Walker - short fiction
T. Williams - Plays (Streetcar Named Desire)
John Updike - novels
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Upton Sinclair - The Jungle
J.D. Salinger
Sherwood Anderson - Winesburg Ohio
William Carlos Williams - Paterson
etc.

It's not hard to find American authors writing about America actually.

[bIGwIRE]

These are just a few off the top of my head, I have a hard time drawing the line, too.

Mark Twain-Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
John Steinbeck-The Grapes of Wrath
Jack Kerouac-Dharma Bums, On the Road, or Desolation Angels
J.D. Salinger-Nine Stories or The Catcher in the Rye
John Updike-Rabbit, Run
Thomas Wolfe-Look Homeward Angel

[PabloQ]

Based on the description, I'm not sure everything that's been suggested fits the definition. I definitely agree on Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Grapes of Wrath, Winesburg, Ohio and Willa Cather (try O Pioneers! or My Antonia).
Not so sure about The Jungle and some of the others.
I'll also throw in:
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
MacTeague by Frank Norris
There are probably others.

[bIGwIRE]

William Faulkner's Reivers is another excellent choice. It contains the things you listed, crime, degenerates, coming of age, redemption, ect.

I'm not sure if you've read any Faulkner, but this novel abandons his stream of consciousness technique he commonly used. I'm not saying that's good or bad, but some people shy away from SoC, so I thought I'd mention it.

This was also his second Pulitzer prize winner.

[kelby_lake]

Light in August maybe, although I associate Americana with more cheery stuff.

Lolita perhaps as well.

There's actually a novel called Americana: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americana_(novel)

[ladderandbucket]

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson is a great example of contemporary Americana.

[Whifflingpin]

Foxfire by Joyce Carol Oates - possibly the majority of books by Joyce Carol Oates.

Giles Goat-Boy by John Bart.

(Of course, "stories about young men and women in small towns dealing with issues of independence, regret, redemption, crime" are pretty well universal.)

[Darcy88]

Stephen Crane. I am a proud patriot of my country but when I read Stephen Crane I honestly wish I had dual-citizenship or something, a greater tie to America than I have.

[Kafka's Crow]

When I started studying American Literature many, many years ago, I was told that a sense of territory is one of the most prominent qualities of American Literature. American Literature is about America.

[Darcy88]

I don't know if the word "Americana" implies novels written in a certain time frame, but as far as novelists who portray with great lucidity an all-encompassing vision of America and what it means to be an American (speaking as a Canadian), Cormac McCarthy is pretty hard to beat. Along with Crane, and Whitman, he would be near the top of my list of writers whose books exude the grand scope of America.

[kelby_lake]

Actually, musicals will probably give you the best insight into Americana. A lot of the best American Literature is either critical about America or has other influences.

Oklahoma! is probably the best example of Americana you will find. Carousel, State Fair, and Meet Me in St Louis are other good examples.

As for a time frame for Americana, it definitely has a nostalgic appeal and patriotism. More of a fantasy America rather than what America is really like.