The 333 Greatest Works of American Literature
This selection of literature from the United States is based on the continuing research carried out for The Greatest Literature of All Time list and is additionally informed by the views of local readers, writers, critics and scholars.
It encompasses the greatest works of American authors in all forms, genres, cultures and periods.
This list focuses on major creative works—such as novels, plays, epic poetry and story collections—although some shorter or nonfiction writing of literary significance may also be included.
Latest update: April 11, 2024
1799
Arthur Mervyn
by Charles Brockden Brown, United States
Novel
1821
Poems
by William Cullen Bryant, United States
Poetry collection
The Pioneers
by James Fenimore Cooper, United States
Novel
1826
The Last of the Mohicans
by James Fenimore Cooper, United States
Novel
1839
Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque
by Edgar Allan Poe, United States
Story collection includes "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall", "MS. Found in a Bottle", and others
1840
Two Years Before the Mast
by Richard Henry Dana, United States
Memoir
1841
The Deerslayer
by James Fenimore Cooper, United States
Novel
1847
Evangeline
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, United States, epic poem
1850
The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne, United States
Novel
1851
The House of Seven Gables
by Nathaniel Hawthorne, United States
Novel
Moby Dick
by Herman Melville, United States
Novel
1852
Uncle Tom's Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe, United States
Novel
1855
The Song of Hiawatha
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, United States, Epic poem
1855–1892
Leaves of Grass
by Walt Whitman, United States
Poetry collection includes "Song of Myself"; "I Sing the Body Electric"; "O Captain! My Captain!"; "Pioneers! O Pioneers!"; and others
1876
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, United States
Novel
1879
Daisy Miller
by Henbry James, United States
Novella
1880
Ben-Hur
by Lew Wallace, United States
Novel
1881
The Portrait of a Lady
by Henry James, United States
Novel
1884
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain, United States
Novel
1889
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
by Mark Twain, United States
Novel
1892
Tales of Soldiers and Civilians
by Ambrose Bierce, United States
Story collection
1894
Pudd'nhead Wilson
by Mark Twain, United States
Novel
1896
The Bostonians
by Henry James, United States
Novel
1898
The Turn of the Screw
by Henry James, United States
Novella
1899
The Awakening
by Kate Chopin, United States
Novel
1900
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
by L. Frank Baum, United States
Novella
Sister Carrie
by Theodore Dreiser, United States
Novel
1902
The Wings of the Dove
by Henry James, United States
Novel
1903
The Ambassadors
by Henry James, United States
Novel
The Call of the Wild
by Jack London, United States
Novella
1904
The Golden Bowl
by Henry James, United States
Novel
1905
The House of Mirth
by Edith Wharton, United States
Novel
1906
The Jungle
by Upton Sinclair, United States
Novel
1908
The Circular Staircase
by Mary Roberts Rinehart, United States
Novel
1911
Ethan Frome
by Edith Wharton, United States
Novella
1913
O Pioneers!
by Willa Cather, United States
Novel
1914
Tarzan of the Apes
by Edgar Rice Burroughs, United States
Novel
North of Boston
by Robert Frost, United States
Poetry collection includes "Mending Wall", "The Death of the Hired Man", "After Apple-Picking", and others
1915
Spoon River Anthology
by Edgar Lee Masters, United States
Poetry collection
1919
Winesburg, Ohio
by Sherwood Anderson, United States
Story collection
The Age of Innocence
by Edith Wharton, United States
Novel
1922
Tales of the Jazz Age
by F. Scott Fitzgerald, United States
Story collection includes "May Day", "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz", "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", and others
Babbitt
by Sinclair Lewis, United States
Novel
1923
New Hampshire
by Robert Frost, United States
Poetry collection includes "Fire and Ice", "Nothing Gold Can Stay", "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", and others
The Prophet
by Kahlil Gibran, United States
Prose poetry collection
1924
Billy Budd, Foretopman
by Herman Melville, United States
Novel
1925
An American Tragedy
by Theodore Dreiser, United States
Novel
In Our Time
by Ernest Hemingway, United States
Story collection includes "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife", "The Three-Day Blow", "The Big Two-Hearted River", and others
1925–1970
The Cantos
by Ezra Pound, United States
Poetry collection
Elmer Gantry
by Sinclair Lewis, United States
Novel
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
by Thornton Wilder, United States
Novella
1929
The Sound and the Fury
by William Faulkner, United States
Novel
Look Homeward, Angel
by Thomas Wolfe, United States
Novel
1930
As I Lay Dying
by William Faulkner, United States
Novel
1930–1936
U.S.A.
by John Dos Passos, United States
Novel series includes The 42nd Parallel, 1919, The Big Money
1931
The Good Earth
by Pearl S. Buck, United States
Novel
At the Mountains of Madness
by H.P. Lovecraft, United States
Novel
Mourning Becomes Electra
by Eugene O'Neill, United States
Play
Guys and Dolls
by Damon Runyon, United States
Story collection
1932
Tobacco Road
by Erskine Caldwell, United States
Novel
Light in August
by William Faulkner, United States
Novel
1932–1935
Studs Lonigan
by James T. Farrell, United States
Novel series includes Young Lonigan, The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan, Judgment Day
1933
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
by Gertrude Stein, United States
Novel
Miss Lonelyhearts
by Nathanael West, United States
Novella
The Children's Hour
by Lillian Hellman, United States
Play
Tropic of Cancer
by Henry Miller, United States
Novel
Awake and Sing!
by Clifford Odets, United States
Play
Call It Sleep
by Henry Roth, United States
Novel
1936
Nightwood
by Djuna Barnes, United States
Novel
Absalom, Absalom!
by William Faulkner, United States
Novel
Gone with the Wind
by Margaret Mitchell, United States
Novel
1937
Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston, United States
Novel
1938
Who Goes There?
by John W. Campbell, United States
Novella
The Book of the Dead
by Muriel Rukeyser, United States
Poetry collection
The Little Foxes
by Lillian Hellman, United States
Play
Pale Horse, Pale Rider
by Katherine Anne Porter, United States
Story collection
The Day of the Locust
by Nathanael West, United States
Novel
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
by Carson McCullers, United States
Novel
Native Son
by Richard Wright, United States
Novel
1941
Mildred Pierce
by James M. Cain, United States
Novel
1942
Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
by Edith Hamilton, United States
Story collection
The Fountainhead
by Ayn Rand, United States
Novel
1945
Cannery Row
by John Steinbeck, United States
Novel
The Glass Menagerie
by Tennessee Williams, United States
Play
1946
The Iceman Cometh
by Eugene O'Neill, United States
Play
All the King's Men
by Robert Penn Warren, United States
Novel
1947
I, the Jury
by Mickey Spillane, United States
Novel
The Pearl
by John Steinbeck, United States
Novella
A Streetcar Named Desire
by Tennessee Williams, United States
Play
1949
The Man With the Golden Arm
by Nelson Algren, United States
Novel
The Sheltering Sky
by Paul Bowles, United States
Novel
The Lottery and Other Stories
by Shirley Jackson, United States
Story collection
Death of a Salesman
by Arthur Miller, United States
Play
1950
I, Robot
by Isaac Asimov, United States
Story collection includes "Robbie", "Runaround", "Reason", "Catch that Rabbit", "Liar!", "Little Lost Robot", and others
Strangers on a Train
by Patricia Highsmith, United States
Play
1951
The Illustrated Man
by Ray Bradbury, United States
Story collection
Montage of a Dream Deferred
by Langston Hughes, United States
Poetry collection
From Here to Eternity
by James Jones, United States
Novel
1951–1953
The Foundation Trilogy
by Isaac Asimov, United States
Novel series includes Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation
1952
Invisible Man
by Ralph Ellison, United States
Novel
Wise Blood
by Flannery O'Connor, United States
Novel
Baby Is Three
by Theodore Sturgeon, United States
Novella
Last Seen Wearing...
by Hilary Waugh, United States
Novel
Charlotte's Web
by E.B. White, United States
Novel
1953
The Adventures of Augie March
by Saul Bellow, United States
Novel
Nine Stories
by J.D. Salinger, United States
Story collection includes A Perfect Day for Bananafish, For Esmé—With Love and Squalor, and others
1954
Go Tell It on the Mountain
by James Baldwin, United States
Novel
I Am Legend
by Richard Matheson, United States
Novella
1955
The Complete Poems
by Emily Dickinson, United States
Poetry collection
The Recognitions
by William Gaddis, United States
Novel
The Talented Mr. Ripley
by Patricia Highsmith, United States
Novel
Beast in View
by Margaret Millar, United States
Novel
A Good Man Is Hard to Find
by Flannery O'Connor, United States
Story collection includes "A Good Man Is Hard to Find", "The River", "The Life You Save May Be Your Own", "Good Country People", and others
1956
Giovanni's Room
by James Baldwin, United States
Novel
Howl
by Allen Ginsberg, United States
Poem
Long Day's Journey into Night
by Eugene O'Neill, United States
Play
Night
by Elie Wiesel, United States
Memoir
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
by Tennessee Williams, United States
Play
The Wapshot Chronicle
by John Cheever, United States
Novel
Atlas Shrugged
by Ayn Rand, United States
Novel
1958
Breakfast at Tiffany's
by Truman Capote, United States
Novella
Anatomy of a Murder
by Robert Lovesey, United States
Novel
1959
Henderson the Rain King
by Saul Bellow, United States
Novel
Naked Lunch
by William S. Burroughs, United States
Novel
A Raisin in the Sun
by Lorrraine Hansberry, United States
Play
A Canticle for Leibowitz
by Walter M. Miller, United States
Novel
Rabbit Run
by John Updike, United States
Novel
The Moviegoer
by Walker Percy, United States
Novel
Franny and Zooey
by J.D. Salinger, United States
Novel
Revolutionary Road
by Richard Yates, United States
Novel
1962
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
by Edward Albee, United States
Play
A Wrinkle in Time
by Madelein L'Engel, United States
Novel
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
by Shirley Jackson, United States
Novel
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
by Ken Kesey, United States
Novel
Ship of Fools
by Katherine Anne Porter, United States
Novel
1963
The Crucible
by Arthur Miller, United States
Play
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters
by J.D. Salinger, United States
Novella
Seymour: An Introduction
by J.D. Salinger, United States
Novella
Short Friday and Other Stories
by Isaac Bashevis Singer, United States
Story collection
Cat's Cradle
by Kurt Vonnegut, United States
Novel
1964
Herzog
by Saul Bellow, United States
Novel
Everything That Rises Must Converge
by Flannery O'Conner, United States
Story collection includes Everything "That Rises Must Converge", "Greenleaf", "The Lame Shall Enter First", "Revelation", "Parker's Back", "Judgement Day", and others
Ariel
by Syvia Plath, United States
Poetry collection
1966
Giles Goat-Boy
by John Barth, United States
Novel
In Cold Blood
by Truman Capote, United States
Novel
Flowers for Algernon
by Daniel Keyes, United States
Novel
The Crying of Lot 49
by Thomas Pynchon, United States
Novel
1967
Babel-17
by Samuel R. Delany, United States
Novel
Camp Concentration
by Thomas Disch, United States
Novel
Dangerous Visions
ed. Harlan Ellison, United States
Story collection
The Outsiders
by S.E. Hinton, United States
Novel
The Confessions of Nat Turner
by William Styron, United States
Novel
1968
The Last Unicorn
by Peter S. Beagle, United States
Novella
In Watermelon Sugar
by Richard Brautigan, United States
Novel
The Lion in Winter
by James Goldman, United States
Play
Dragonflight
by Anne McCaffrey, United States
Novel
The Séance and Other Stories
by Isaac Bashevis Singer, United States
Story collection
Myra Breckinridge
by Gore Vidal, United States
Novel
1968–2001
The Earthsea Cycle
by Ursula K. Le Guin, United States
Novel series also known as Earthsea; The Earthsea Trilogy
1969
Ubik
by Philip K. Dick, United States
Novel
them
by Joyce Carol Oates, United States
Novel
The Godfather
by Mario Puzo, United States
Novel
Slaughterhouse Five
by Kurt Vonnegut, United States
Novel
1970
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou, United States
Memoir
Deliverance
by James Dickey, United States
Novel
1971
The Bell Jar
by Sylvia Plath, United States
Novel
Angle of Repose
by Wallace Stegner, United States
Novel
Rabbit Redux
by John Updike, United States
Novel
1971–1983
Riverworld
by Philip José Farmer, United States
Novel series includes To Your Scattered Bodies Go, The Fabulous Riverboat, The Dark Design, and others
1972
Bless Me, Ultima
by Rudolpho Anaya, United States
Novel
The Gods Themselves
by Isaac Asimov, United States
Novel
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
by Hunter S. Thompson, United States
Novel
1973
Dance Hall of the Deed
by Tony Hillerman, United States
Novel
Gravity's Rainbow
by Thomas Pynchon, United States
Novel
1974
The Forever War
by Joe Haldeman, United States
Novel
Enormous Changes at the Last Minute
by Grace Paley, United States
Story collection
Dog Soldiers
by Robert Stone, United States
Novel
1975
Humboldt's Gift
by Saul Bellow, United States
Novel
Ragtime
by E.L. Doctorow, United States
Novel
1976
Will You Please Be Quiet, Please
by Raymond Carver, United States
Story collection
A River Runs Through It
by Norman Maclean, United States
Novel
Interview With the Vampire
by Anne Rice, United States
Novel
1977
Falconer
by John Cheever, United States
Novel
Song of Solomon
by Toni Morrison, United States
Novel
Gateway
by Frederick Pohl, United States
Novel
1978
The Stories of John Cheever
by John Cheever, United States
Story collection
1979
Legends of the Fall
by Jim Harrison, United States
Novella
Sophie's Choice
by William Styron, United States
Novel
1980
Riddley Walker
by Russell Hoban, United States
Novel
So Long, See You Tomorrow
by William Maxwell, United States
Novel
1981
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
by Raymond Carver, United States
Story collection
Red Dragon
by Thomas Harris, United States
Novel
Rabbit Is Rich
by John Updike, United States
Novel
1982
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
by Stephen King, United States
Novel
The Color Purple
by Alice Walker, United States
Novel
1982–1984
The Belgariad
by David Eddings, United States
Novel
1982–2004
The Dark Tower
by Stephen King, United States
Novel series includes The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, Wizard and Glass, and others
1983
The Mists of Avalon
by Marion Zimmer Bradley, United States
Novel
Cathedral
by Raymond Carver, United States
Story collection
1984
Bright Lights, Big City
by Jay McInerney, United States
Novel
Glengarry Glen Ross
by David Mamet, United States
Play
White Noise
by Don DeLillo, United States
Novel
Blood Meridian
by Cormac McCarthy, United States
Novel
Lonesome Dove
by Larry McMurtry, United States
Novel
Contact
by Carl Sagan, United States
Novel
The Accidental Tourist
by Anne Tyler, United States
Novel
1985–1986
The New York Trilogy
by Paul Auster, United States, Novel trilogy
The Prince of Tides
by Pat Conroy, United States
Novel
The Sportswriter
by Richard Ford, United States
Novel
Misery
by Stephen King, United States
Novel
Presumed Innocent
by Scott Turow, United States
Novel
Beloved
by Toni Morrison, United States
Novel
1988
Where I'm Calling Fron
by Raymond Carver, United States
Play
M. Butterly
by David Henry Hwang, United States
Play
The Joy Luck Club
by Amy Tan, United States
Novel
Breathing Lessons
by Anne Tyler, United States
Novel
1990
L.A. Confidential
by James Ellroy, United States
Novel
Get Shorty
by Elmore Leonard, United States
Novel
Like Life
by Lorrie Moore, United States
Story collection
Devil in a Blue Dress
by Walter Mosley, United States
Novel
The Things They Carried
by Tim O'Brien, United States
Story collection
1991
Angels in America
by Tony Kushner, United States
Play
Black Water
by Joyce Carol Oates, United States
Novella
1991–
Outlander
by Diana Gabaldon, United States
Novel series
1991–1993
The Thrawn Trilogy
by Timothy Zahn, United States, Novel trilogy
1992
All the Pretty Horses
by Cormac McCarthy, United States
Novel
Angels in America
by Tony Kushner, United States
Play
The Secret History
by Donna Tartt, United States
Novel
1993
The Shipping News
by Annie Proulx, United States
Novel
1994
In the Time of the Butterflies
by Julia Alvarez, United States
Novel
1996
Infinite Jest
by David Foster Wallace, United States
Novel
Drown
by Junot Diaz, United States
Story collection
1996–
A Song of Fire and Ice
by George R.R. Martin, United States
Novel series
1997
Underworld
by Don DeLillo, United States
Novel
Mason and Dixon
by Thomas Pynchon, United States
Novel
1998
The Hours
by Michael Cunningham, United States
Novel
The Poisonwood Bible
by Barbara Kingsolver, United States
Novel
1999
Waiting
by Ha Jin, United States
Novel
Interpreter of Maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri, United States
Story collection
2000
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
by Michael Chabon, United States
Novel
2001
The Corrections
by Jonathan Franzen, United States
Novel
2002
Middlesex
by Jeffrey Eugenides, United States
Novel
2003
The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini, United States
Novel
The Known World
by Edward P. Jones, United States
Novel
The Namesake
by Jhumpa Lahiri, United States
Novel
The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger, United States
Novel
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere
by ZZ Packer, United States
Story collection
Vernon God Little
by DBC Pierre, United States
Novel
2004
Gilead
by Marilynne Robinson, United States
Novel
2005
The History of Love
by Nicole Krauss, United States
Novel
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
by Lisa See, United States
Novel
2006
What Is the What
by Dave Eggers, United States
Memoir
The Road
by Cormac McCarthy, United States
Novel
2007
The Great Man
by Kate Christenson, United States
Novel
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot Díaz, United States
Novel
A Thousand Splendid Suns
by Khaled Hosseini, United States
Novel
2008
The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins, United States
Story collection
Unaccustomed Earth
by Jhumpa Lahiri, United States
Story collection
2010
A Visit From the Goon Squad
by Jennifer Egan, United States
Novel
Freedom
by Jonathan Franzen, United States
Novel
Let the Great World Spin
by Colum McCann, United States
Novel
2012
Gone Girl
by Gillian Flynn, United States
Novel
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
by Ben Fountain, United States
Novel
2013
Tenth of December
by George Saunders, United States
Story collection
2014
Family Life
by Akhil Sharma, United States
Novel
2015–2017
Broken Earth Trilogy
by N.K. Jemisin, United States, Novel trilogy
Includes The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, The Stone Sky
2016
The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead, United States
Novel
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