As we make our way through 20th and 21st century American literature, we'll read the following ten books in chronological order, mixing shorter books with a few well-chosen longer novels:
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925; ISBN: 978-0743273565)
- Nella Larsen, Passing (1929, ISBN: 978-0142437278)
- Carson McCullers, The Member of the Wedding (1946; ISBN: 0618492399)
- Jack Kerouac, The Subterraneans (1958, ISBN: 978-0802131867)
- Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye (1970, ISBN: 978-0307278449)
- Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior (1976, ISBN: 978-0679721888)
- Chris Claremont and Brent Ericson, X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills (1982; ISBN: 0785157263)*
- Don DeLillo, Pafko at the Wall (1992, ISBN: 978-0743230001)*
- Valeria Luiselli, Faces in the Crowd (2014, ISBN: 978-1566893541)
- Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys: A Novel (2019, ISBN: 978-0385537070)
* I'll provide you with PDF copies of these books, though you're welcome to buy used copies if you'd prefer not to read on your phone or tablet.
Copies have been ordered at both the UC Bookstore and DuBois Bookstore, however you should be able to find plentiful used copies via Amazon, ABE Books, Powell's, etc. Towards that end, I beg you, just buy the damn book! Part of the joy of being an English major is having a relatively cheap book bill compared to your friends in more technical fields. I am sympathetic to the paltry finances of undergrads and respect, but there are relatively low-cost ways to get your hands on a copy — buy it used, find a pirated e-book version, locate a local library copy via WorldCat and borrow it, share a copy with a classmate, etc. — and if you're not doing the work then what's the point of being here?
No comments:
Post a Comment