The American Dream

[umpalumpakicku]

Howdy everybody I am new here and I am going to have a test in a week with an essay over the american dream. I am going to use The Great Gatsby, Death of a Salesman, Of Mice and Men, and A raisin in the sun. Do any of you have any suggestions on books about the American Dream.
p.s. if there is already a thread on this i am so very sorry.

[kimpossible]

the american dream, uh....

The Jungle - Upton Sinclair
Rabbit, Run - Updike (maybe)
Amerika - Kafka (never visited America)
Babbit - Sinclair Lewis

Theres tons, but definitely stick with Fitzgerald. You should check out his other novels, Tender is the Night, This Side of Paradise, & The Beautiful and Damned. They're all filled with young men looking for that American dollar

But really, check out any American author and you'll find the American dream in some form or another

[rabid reader]

A good Canadian veiw of the American Dream is one of my favorite books

Fifth Business - Robertson Davies

[umpalumpakicku]

thanks i think i might go with the jungle i have that laying around

[superunknown]

Could try Nathanael West's "The Day of the Locust". It focuses on people who come to Hollywood seeking fame and fortune but end up falling out among the unsuccessful extras, technicians, and all the rest who lead empty lives, with an overall air of hopelessness and pointlessness that ultimately bubbles into... well, I won't give it away ;) . Not enough people read West anyway, and he died completely unknown.

Of course Fitzgerald's the obvious choice, but since everyone's going to be writing about him anyway it might be good to talk about someone different and give the people reviewing the exam a bit of a breather from all the Fitzgerald madness, and show you up as being someone a bit more original. You've already mentioned Steinbeck, and he's a very, very good one, and someone who not everyone will be writing about.

[mono]

Though these suggestions seem rather odd at first, I believe they make some allusions to subjects, such as the so-called 'American Dream,' some in a more sociological perspective: The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson, several short stories by Kurt Vonnegut, and nearly anything by Ray Bradbury.

[Schokokeks]

Furthermore, if you'd like to dig into something more recently written, try Paul Auster's Moon Palace. It deals a lot with the idea of the vanishing of Native American cultures as well as the going-West-spirit and its repercussions today.

[genoveva]

The Grapes of Wrath?
On the Road?
anything by Steinbeck?
Edith Warton?
American Realism stuff...(though not my favorite genre)