50 novels for 50 states

Recent events have shown me that I don't really understand America and I'd like to change that.

To that end I've decided to read a novel for each state in the union, so any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Ideally each novel would capture something about the state's history or culture, rather than just being set there.

Other urls found in this thread:

bestpresidentialbios.com/
buzzfeed.com/daveodegard/the-favorite-books-of-all-44-presidents-of-the-united-states?utm_term=.qhBGDN9xQ#.hv8Q1L94D
zamoranoclubla.org/pdf/zamorano-select.pdf
twitter.com/SFWRedditGifs

I guess Huckleberry Finn for Missouri

Pick up a fucking history book, retard

Mason and Dixon for Maryland

Tom Wolfe for Virginia

Please don't include 'muh equality/anti-race-realism' works like that one, or To Kill a Mockingbird, or other Southern novels with blacks and whites being friends and overcoming 'muuuhh ebuull racism', thanks

You're fucking retarded.

I know the facts, I think fiction will help me get a grasp on the psyche.

Any one /NJ/ here?

I don't think I've ever seen jersey mentioned besides In Freedom by franzen. I got a kick out of it since it mentioned my town and some bars I go to :^)

Fuck New Jersey, faggot. It's a shithole. kys.

FL - Thomas McGuane's Ninety-Two in the Shade. Tom Wolfe's Back to Blood, too.

Philip Roth, man. Most of his novels take place in Newark.

American Pastoral by Roth

Top ken have you been to nj or no?

Thanks lads I'll give it a go

Fargo for Minnesota

Alright here's what I've got so far.

I couldn't see a Tom Wolfe novel that looked particularly Virginia-y.

How about Pennsylvania?

Try American Rust. It's set in PA, and has themes that might give you a sense of what the rust belt is like.

Philip Roth sets most of his stuff in New Jersey. Not really a fan, but he is pretty well-regarded.

I'll check it out. I read The Son and thought it was pretty good.

Winesburg, Ohio, by Sherwood Anderson
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote

Man in the High Castle for Colorado?

Ohio: Beloved
West Virginia: Freedom (Franzen)
Pennsylvania: American Rust
Iowa: Gilead
Alabama: To Kill a Mockingbird
Mississippi: Light in August

Blood Meridian for AZ and No Country for Old Men for TX.

Seize the Day for NY
Confederacy of Dunces for Louisiana

what about Alaska?

The Yiddish Policemen's Union

MA: IJ

Call of the Wild by Jack London.

Grapes of Wrath is essential reading for this purpose. Both for Oklahoma and California.

I saw on the chart that East of Eden was the choice for California but I think Grapes is the better Steinbeck choice. It doesn't really explain California as a whole though, I like Steinbeck but he's not the best choice.

Junot Diaz. aside from some set in the Dominican Republic, all the stories in Drown are set in NJ. one is even titled Edison, New Jersey. And Oscar Wao is mostly in NJ, too.

GA has pretty much got to be Gone With The Wind. Although, Bierce's unit was stationed in GA so maybe some of his civil war stuff is set there, too.

Maybe I'll cheat and have Grapes of Wrath for OK so I can free up CA for something else.

That might be better. While Okies are an important part of California history, my grandfather was one, they are more representative of the state they emigrated from. Still thinking of a good Cali book, pretty difficult because the state is so fucking big.

Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey is the pick for Utah

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas could work for Nevada, although emblemic of the city and not the state. then again, is there any choice that represents the whole state? Maybe some old Louis L'amore oater?

a) why not?
b) those books aren't like that

No book will help you understand these people, because books are written by, about, and for the kind of person smart enough to read books.

This book did a pretty good job though.

Cannery Row should be used for California instead 2bh

I've never read it but I will if you tell me why it is the best choice.

Spoonriver anthology for Illinois.

Because it focuses on the different characters that live in Monterey, CA, and even goes into Salinas. They are a stark contrast seeing as Salinas is a salt of the earth, farm land.

Seeing as how it focuses on actual California characters, and it's his best book, I think It is the perfect choice.

really most things by Wendell Berry would good for Kentucky.

Hillbilly Elegy isn't fiction but it's a really interesting look at the communities in the appalachian mountains

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter for Georgia.

Maybe Lie Down in Darkness/Confessions of Nat Turner for Virginia? William Styron is a good choice for that state.

West Virginia should be Breece DJ Pancake trilobites

Look Homeward, Angel for North Carolina

Here's where we're at so far. Triple McCarthy is probably overkill, feel free to throw out alternatives for those states.

I've actually read it already. It was good.

Cheers, I'll check them out.

Infinite Jest could replace Blood Meridian

Lonesome Dove could replace No Country for Old Men

The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today could replace Suttree

Sometimes a Great Notion for Oregon

Colorado:
Kent Haruf, Plainsong

Don't bash your brains in over 50 turgid novels lol But, some suggestions:

Some Stephen King is sure to be set in Maine. And since King is a popular author, reading some of his work and trying to understand why it is popular in America may help your project.

Edgar Allan Poe moved all over, but Baltimore regularly claims him. so some Poe for Maryland.

maybe some James Ellroy for CA?

I'll be honest, fiction becomes less interesting to me the older I get.

The Changing Light at Sandover by James Merrill for Connecticut (or at least the shore region of it)
Epic Poem about ghosts, reincarnations of Plato, and the intersection of the scientific/spiritual/artistic, with a sprawling cosmology reminiscent of Dante and Milton.

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy for Louisiana
Gives a good account of New Orleans and the surrounding suburban area

America can't even produce one novel of note let alone 50

Would actually make a pretty cool chart. Comfy thread OP

For Wyoming, The Virginians by Owen Wister would be great. Considered to be the first ever "Western" novel.

we should do one for presidents too, maybe:
pro biography
contra biography
something written during their term
...

As a Brit this sounds really interesting actually, I guess for Maine you'd have a Stephen King book?

do you know a lot about presidential biographies?

I love the idea but wonder if Veeky Forums has enough knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject

Absalom, Absalom! for Mississippi

I'm having trouble finding biographies that would balance the hagiographic biographies.

I was planning on choosing the possitive biography from this site:
bestpresidentialbios.com/

and there is also this, which (inb4 >buzzfeed) seems interesting, although I didn't include it before:
buzzfeed.com/daveodegard/the-favorite-books-of-all-44-presidents-of-the-united-states?utm_term=.qhBGDN9xQ#.hv8Q1L94D

I was wondering if anything from Colorado would get mentioned. Looks like a book worth reading. Thanks for the rec.

Raymond carver really has that pacific NW feel.

Wisconsin represent!

The problem with California is it's too varied and huge for there to be a well-known, well-written novel that describes it all. It's like New York - most New York novels focus on the NYC/Long Island/Westchester area, leaving few to focus on upstate NY. I'd like to be proven wrong.

But yeah, there are any number of California novels that do a good job of describing a little bit of California, but at the expense of other parts. Writing about SF? LA and the rural areas get left behind, and vice versa.

The Zamorano Club has a list of books it considers to be essential to an understanding of California's nature, but I'm not quite familiar with everything on it. I do know it contains a lot of nonfiction though. Fig Tree John does a good job.

A link to the list in question, for anyone interested:
zamoranoclubla.org/pdf/zamorano-select.pdf

>Edgar Allan Poe moved all over, but Baltimore regularly claims him. so some Poe for Maryland

I was thinking about the Gold Bug for SC. It's one of his longer stories, as well as a popular one, and set on the South Carolina coast.

Well, user, I suggested Tom Wolfe because he is from Virginia.

I realise that but I'm assuming that reading The Bonfire of the Vanities or The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test isn't likely to give me much of a sense of Virginia.

>leaving few to focus on upstate NY. I'd like to be proven wrong.

The Last of the Mohicans

the bible for mississippi

You can get a sense of that though the way he writes or something, I don't know. Incidentally, I'm sure Edgar Allen Poe wrote about Virginia. But you have to realize reading a single book won't give you the perfect semblance of Virginia, for it is too big and diverse.

I see you've filled the Illinois slot with a work I'm unfamiliar with, but I humbly suggest Bradbury's Dandelion Wine as a serious contender. Comfy: The Novel, right there.

I still think the movie Fargo should represent Minnesota.

God, do not read east of eden, it is without a doubt the most reddit tier, overwrought sentimental plebby piece of "literature" that i have ever read. What abut Grapes of Wrath? Unless youve already read it and dont want to repeat yourself there is no fucking reason to read EoE over GoW. And even if you have, there has fucking got to be a better californian book than EoE.

seriously dude, fucking anything but east of eden, if you go ahead with it dont say i didnt warn you.

>recommends Stephen King

>complains about fiction

If you were so bright maybe you'd recommend Atleast one good american author.

William Gass' In the Heart of the Heart of the Country suits a lot of the midwest
Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie would suit Illinois
Something John Green for Indiana

That does look good. Maybe I'll give it the nod considering Spoon River Anthology isn't really a novel. But I'll probably read that too, it sounds interesting as fuck.

I've seen it, something like it in novel form would be great.

Don't worry, another user already talked me into GoW.

Eh, you're not wrong but I disagree for some reason. Not enough New York character in it, if that makes sense.

>polk

seconding this over The Sound and The Fury as Absalom, Absalom! deals more with the legacy and impact of Southern life post-Civil War

Move Infinite Jest to Mass. (Or obviously put Hawthorne there). States characterized by major conurbations probably need two books. Chicago needs a Saul Bellow novel, LA needs Nathaniel West, etc

Complete HP Lovecraft for Rhode Island.

Which Tom Wolfe book? He's a Richmond native but I can't name a book of his set in the Old Dominion.

>ctrl+f didion
>0 matches

You had one job, apparently.

A good book about Virginia, and more relevant than ever in light of recent events.

>Iowa
I second Gilead for Iowa

No Stephen Crane? Yall are retarded.

Bonfire of the Vanities for NY

Suttree for Tennessee