Literature

Americans have produced much notable literature across genres — its citizens have won the Nobel Prize in Literature twelve times. Toni Morrison became the most recent recipient in 1993. The genre of literature which captures the American essence in its narrative is the 'Great American Novel'. The term has been used to describe Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, and J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.

Toni Morisson
Toni Morrison (b. February 18, 1931, Lorain, Ohio) is a Nobel Prize winning American author. Her works are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed African American characters; among the best known are her novels The Bluest Eye, Beloved (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction), and Song of Solomon. In 2001 she was named one of the 30 most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American Jazz Age author of novels and short stories. He is regarded as one of the greatest twentieth century writers. Fitzgerald was of the self-styled "Lost Generation," Americans born in the 1890s who came of age during World War I. He finished four novels, left a fifth unfinished, and wrote dozens of short stories that treat themes of youth, despair, and age.

Herman Melville
Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. His earliest novels were bestsellers, but his popularity declined later in his life. By the time of his death he had been almost completely forgotten, but his longest novel, Moby-Dick — largely considered a failure during his lifetime, and responsible for Melville's drop in popularity — was rediscovered in the 20th century as a literary masterpiece.

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*Wikipedia.org
*Browne, Ray B. ed. The Guide to United States Popular Culture (2001) (ISBN 0879728213)
*CQ Guide to Current American Government: Spring 2007 (2006)
*Jonathan Crowther. Oxford Guide to British and American Culture for Learners of English. (2004)
*M. Thomas Inge and Dennis Hall, eds. The Greenwood Guide to American Popular Culture (4 vol 2002)
*Johnson, Paul M. A History of the American People. 1104 pages. Harper Perennial: 1999. ISBN 0-06-093034-9, conservative historian