Our Lists of the Greatest American Authors

Harold Bloom, if you haven’t heard of him, is a longtime literary scholar and professor, as well as the author of dozens of books of literary criticism. His latest offering to the world is called The Daemon Knows: Literary Greatness and the American Sublime, in which he lists 12 American authors whose influence has shaped the American “creative spirit.” Now, the “American Sublime” is something that many critics have taken a whack at, each applying the term to different writers, but I’m not going to go into all that here. Anyway, many of us Rioters were disturbed by the news of Bloom’s book, mostly because he seems to be stuck in some sort of temporal trap, in which anyone writing after the mid-20th century doesn’t exist. Oh, and he doesn’t realize that there are some pretty brilliant American writers who aren’t white. Amazing. Now, I haven’t read this book, I just read about it, but I have two claims: 1. if Bloom is arguing that these 12 white (and almost all male) writers represent the pinnacle of American literature, then he needs to return to planet Earth and look around. 2. if Bloom is simply trying to define the “American Sublime” in terms of “canonical” writers, then excuse me but snoooooooooooooooooooze because writing a book about Whitman and Melville and Dickinson and Emerson has been done and done and done and let’s move on, shall we? I mean, Melville is one of my favorite writers ever. But this new book of criticism that stops with Faulkner seems dated, like Bloom wrote this 30 years ago and just found the manuscript in his attic and decided to publish it. WHATEVER. The great thing that came out of the announcement of Bloom’s book, though, is the wonderful discussion that it sparked in the BR back-channels. So we decided to write our own lists of “12 Greatest American Authors,” taking into consideration influence, stylistic brilliance, and many other factors that made us love particular writers. Unlike Bloom, we didn’t restrict “American” to the United States, but included all of North, South, and Central America. We invite you to check out our lists (which are much more diverse and timely than Bloom’s) and tell us who you would include on a list of “top 12.” (Note that many of these lists follow no particular order because that would be impossible. It was already excruciatingly difficult to pick just 12!) Rachel C. Jorge Luis Borges Ralph Ellison Willa Cather Richard Wright Zora Neale Hurston Toni Morrison Herman Melville Sherman Alexie Mark Twain Vladimir Nabokov Anne Bradstreet Donna Tartt   Danika Ellis Alice Walker Toni Morrison Imogen Binnie Thomas King Malinda Lo Octavia Butler Sassafras Lowrey Dorothy Allison Audre Lorde Tamora Pierce Alison Bechdel Ellis Avery   Liberty Hardy Edward P. Jones Charles Portis Elizabeth McCracken Kurt Vonnegut Octavia Butler Roberto Bolaño Ursula K. Le Guin Flannery O’Connor Margaret Atwood Russell Hoban Shirley Jackson John Steinbeck   Jeff O’Neal Walt Whitman Toni Morrison Herman Melville Emily Dickinson Ralph Ellison Ralph Waldo Emerson William Faulkner Kurt Vonnegut Mark Twain Zora Neale Hurston John Steinbeck Willa Cather   Amanda Nelson Toni Morrison Margaret Atwood Louise Erdrich Isabel Allende John Steinbeck Junot Díaz Marilynne Robinson Edith Wharton Flannery O’Connor Herman Melville Kurt Vonnegut Sylvia Plath   Derek Attig Gloria Anzaldúa Anne Bradstreet Gwendolyn Brooks Octavia Butler Aimé Césaire Ta-Nehisi Coates Frederick Douglass Leslie Feinberg Allen Ginsberg R. Zamora Linmark Henry David Thoreau Walt Whitman   Cassandra Neace Gabriel García Márquez Sherman Alexie Zora Neale Hurston Margaret Atwood Junot Diaz Octavia Butler Pablo Neruda Amy Tan Flannery O’Connor Nathaniel Hawthorne Octavio Paz Willa Cather   Nikki Steele Ray Bradbury Toni Morrison Cormac McCarthy Sandra Cisneros Gabriel García Márquez Margaret Atwood Jorge Luis Borges Marilynne Robinson John Steinbeck Stan Lee Ursula K. Le Guin Edgar Allan Poe   Jessica Woodbury Margaret Atwood Ray Bradbury Willa Cather Junot Díaz William Faulkner Shirley Jackson Gabriel García Márquez Toni Morrison John Steinbeck Mark Twain Kurt Vonnegut Edith Wharton   Aram Mrjoian James Baldwin Ernest Hemingway Toni Morrison Junot Díaz William Gaddis Margaret Atwood Anais Nin Roberto Bolano Ken Kesey Sylvia Plath Cormac McCarthy Ralph Ellison   Karina Glaser Betty Smith Lucille Clifton Emily Dickinson John Steinbeck Louisa May Alcott Laura Ingalls Wilder Maya Angelou Amy Tan Beverly Cleary Langston Hughes Elizabeth Enright Eleanor Estes   Johann Thorsson Toni Morrison Ernest Hemingway John Steinbeck William Faulkner Betty Smith Shirley Jackson Herman Melville Mark Twain Kurt Vonnegut Stephen King (why not?) Alice Walker Truman Capote   Rah Carter Maya Angelou James Baldwin Ray Bradbury Emily Dickinson Charlotte Perkins Gilman Allen Ginsberg Harper Lee Sylvia Plath Edgar Allan Poe Jean Rhys Mark Twain Alice Walker   Alison Peters Toni Morrison Alice Walker James Baldwin Madeleine L’Engle Isabel Allende Gabriel García Márquez Gloria Naylor E.B. White Annie Dillard Rebecca Solnit Louise Erdrich Angela Johnson   Jessi Lewis John Steinbeck Toni Morrison Gabriel García Márquez Louise Erdrich Herman Melville Stephen King James Baldwin Sherman Alexie Kurt Vonnegut Amy Tan Zora Neale Hurston Ernest Hemingway ____________________ Book Riot Live is coming! Join us for a two-day event full of books, authors, and an all around good time. It’s the convention for book lovers that we’ve always wanted to attend. So we are doing it ourselves. Save