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/lit/ — American Fiction, 1945 - 1999
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American Fiction, 1945 - 1999Anonymous06/15/26(Mon)04:23:31
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What are your favorite American authors and books from the latter half of the 20th century?
Have you read the following any of the following authors and if so, what were your general thoughts on them:
>John Updike
>Joan Didion
>Joyce Carol Oates
>John Irving
>Tom Wolfe
>Norman Mailer
>Anne Tyler
>Philip Roth
>Saul Bellow
>Bernard Malamur
And anyone else you think is worth mentioning ITT. (I didn't include Pynchon, DeLillo, or McCarthy because I know that we all generally like them, I don't really see the other authors listed here nearly as discussed so I wanted to know what /lit/'s general opinions are on them, on account they are some of the most famous names in American fiction and American creative nonfiction/journalism.)
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Anonymous06/15/26(Mon)04:38:06
>>25342743 (OP)
>Bernard Malamur
Malamud*
Funnily, the only author I've read from any of these authors, is The Natural, and somehow the only author I misspelled was the only one I read lol
iirc I thought it was pretty subpar. Don't have much I can say atm cuz I read it years ago when I wanted to read a literary book about sports and The Natural is probably the most famous? (obv Infinite Jest has tennis but IJ is about a lot more than Tennis while The Natural is ostensibly THE literary sport book). Part of the reason I wanted to read a book about sports was cuz I was curious how, well, sports can be written in a literary way? but I think the scenes that stuck with me the most were the sex/romance scenes
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Anonymous06/15/26(Mon)04:48:43
>Norman Mailer
I read Ancient Evenings without knowing much about it beforehand and I was not prepared for what I got, kek.
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Anonymous06/15/26(Mon)06:15:27
>>25342743 (OP)
>John Irving
I started The Cider House Rules, it seemed pretty good but I'm too ADHD to read that kind of thing
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Anonymous06/15/26(Mon)14:58:32
>>25342743 (OP)
>>John Updike
He rules. Loved the Rabbit series: a character study of the All-American Asshole. His other fiction is worthwhile, but his attempts at poetry were a bad joke.
>>Joyce Carol Oates
Feminist cunt with a stick up her arse, but capable of affecting writing. The best example is Black Water, which is horrifying and immediate, despite being a heavy-handed feminist polemic.
>>Norman Mailer
I enjoyed The Fight. I would have also enjoyed decking Gore Vidal.
>>Philip Roth
Too full of himself. American Pastoral was a prize-baiting attempt at "muh great American novel," and a long, tedious slog. His better fiction is shorter and to the point. Everyman is my favourite.
>>John Barth
You didn't mention him, so I suppose I have to. I've only read Tidewater Tales, and found it an imposing, overlong, self-indulgent wank.
Good thread btw.
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