Great Women of American Literature

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Laura Ingalls Wilder (with her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane) inspired generations of young readers and captured the pioneer spirit.

Yes!

[Anonymous]

Willa Cather

[Anonymous]

Lillian Hellman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Willa Cather

Can't believe I forgot Willa Cather!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ann Rice?

Definitely! She ranks up there with the giants like Stephanie Meyer and Danielle Steel

Stop! Interview With the Vampire is classic!

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:What about Eudora Welty? Admittedly, I haven't actually read any of her novels -- just short stories -- but I've also read about her and she seems to be held in high esteem.

I love her and yes, she's held in very high esteem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Marilynne Robinson, Joan Didion (prefer her novels to her essays and reporting) and Toni Morrison. More recently Donna Tartt.

A recent favorite that I hope joins those ranks is Rachel Kushner. Nell Zink is interesting too.

The Great Women of American Literature title may be too highfalutin', but two more writers I enjoy but forgot yesterday are Claire Messud and Jane Smiley.

I'm a third of the way through Hanya Yanagihara A Little Life (this mother is long) and am pretty blown away so far.

I think Jane Smiley is stylistically amazing. She's an incredibly versatile writer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harper Lee

Extremely over-rated. She was a one-hit wonder. The second book sucks.

The second book was actually the first book she wrote, and should never have been published. It was only printed posthumously as a cash grab.

[Anonymous]

Betty Smith comes to mind for me and may not have been mentioned.
Harriet Beecher Stowe— less for the quality of the work than the impact

[Anonymous]

Pearl Buck
Edna Ferber
Ayn Rand

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why? Is this a homework assignment?


In any case, I would say off the top of my head

Edith Wharton
Flannery O'Connor
Sylvia Plath
Maya Angelou
Alice Walker
Toni Morrison
Willa Cather

Over-rated. Sometimes you get points for committing suicide/dying young or for being of color.

Toni Morrison overrated? The Nobel prize winning Toni Morrison?

Maybe you’re just too poorly educated to grasp the brilliance of her writing.

[Anonymous]

Emily Dickinson

Lucia Berlin

Zelda Fitzgerald

Gertrude Stein

Barbara Kingsolver

Jesmyn Ward

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why? Is this a homework assignment?


In any case, I would say off the top of my head

Edith Wharton
Flannery O'Connor
Sylvia Plath
Maya Angelou
Alice Walker
Toni Morrison
Willa Cather

Over-rated. Sometimes you get points for committing suicide/dying young or for being of color.

Toni Morrison overrated? The Nobel prize winning Toni Morrison?

Maybe you’re just too poorly educated to grasp the brilliance of her writing.

Agree with this!

[Anonymous]

Robinson and Didion (novels only), Jesmyn Ward.

And I think the following could deliver great things before they're done: Rachel Kushner, Maggie Shipstead, Ivy Pochoda, Julia May Jones, Ottessa Moshfefgh and C.E. Morgan.

[Anonymous]

Edith Wharton
Emily Dickinson
Elizabeth Bishop
Joan Didion

Wrote one great American novel:
Betty Smith
Harper Lee