Reading in Retirement: Classics of American Fiction - Page 5

Defining "Classic" is dicey at best, and I probably have outraged some of my fellow English teachers with some of my choices. Oh well. Anyway, I've used the term in its widest possible meaning: Literary merit, cultural diversity and importance, representation of era, genre and style, and sustained popularity. I could have kept going, but I thought 180 works were enough. I've limited the list to fiction; poetry, drama, essays, and memoirs should get their own lists.