Title: Twenty-five books that shaped America : how white whales, green lights, and restless spirits forged our national identity /
Authors: Foster, Thomas C.
Publisher: Harper,
Year: 2011
Subjects: American literature History and criticism; American literature Bibliography; National characteristics, American; United States Social life and customs.
Abstract: Foster explains how each of these twenty-five works has shaped our very existence as readers, students, teachers, and Americans. He shows how they captured an American moment, and how they influenced our perception of nationhood and citizenship.
Contents: Maybe just a little made-up: The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin -- A man, a plan, a flintlock: The last of the Mohicans -- The allegory man cometh: The scarlet letter -- Gotta get back to the pond and set my soul free: Walden -- I've been workin' on the whale-road: Moby-Dick -- The good gray poet, my eye!: Leaves of grass -- Girls gone mild: Little women -- About a boy -- and a raft: The adventures of Huckleberry Finn -- Twofer: A boy's will and North of Boston -- In praise of prairie: My Ántonia -- A whole heap of ashes: The great Gatsby -- Life is a carnival: The sun also rises -- It takes a weary man to sing a weary song: The weary blues -- The bird is the word: The Maltese falcon -- So big: U.S.A. -- The winepress of injustice: The grapes of wrath -- Like a hurricane: Their eyes were watching God -- He ain't heavy, he's my cousin: Go down, Moses -- American Candide: The adventures of Augie March -- Me and my shadow: On the road -- When reading got good: The cat in the hat -- Walk a mile in my shoes: To kill a mockingbird -- Not in Kansas anymore: The crying of Lot 49 -- Race, relations: Song of Solomon -- Home, home on the res: Love medicine -- Conclusion: Fifteen more and the G.A.N.