robin1234

Caught the last few minutes of a program on the radio this morning, On Point with Tom Ashbrook. He was talking with Jay Parini who has published Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America .... These are the thirteen books;

- Of Plymouth Plantation (1620-47), by William Bradford
- The Federalist Papers (1787-88)
- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1793)
- The Journals of Lewis and Clark (1803-06)
- Walden (1854), by Henry David Thoreau
- Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), by Harriet Beecher Stowe
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), by Mark Twain
- The Souls of Black Folk (1903), by W.E.B. DuBois
- The Promised Land (1912), by Mary Antin
- How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936), by Dale Carnegie
- The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (1946), by Benjamin Spock
- On the Road (1957), by Jack Kerouac
- The Feminine Mystique (1963), by Betty Friedan

The only one I've read is Kerouac's On the Road but Souls of Black Folk and The Promised Land are definitely on my "to read" list.

Anyone else, thoughts on this list? Any recommendations? (Hey - I've got a twelve day holiday coming up!!)

meauxna

How to Win Friends for sure (and How to Stop Worrying & Start Living if you're so inclined). I know people who read it once a year for years on end.
NOT recommended because I think you 'need' it, but for the number of people (hundreds) who have told me how much they value it.
And no. I do not collect a royalty. Directly.

Thydney

You missed out Dubyas colouring book

Octang Frye

Atlas Shrugged
The Fountainhead
Huckleberry Finn
To Kill a Mockingbird
Superman comics

Octang Frye

I read On The Road. Thought it was overrated hippy bullshit.

Pharrya

Some suggestions...

Catch-22
The Origin of Species (Darwin)
Narrative on the life of Frederick Douglass (Frederick Douglass)
The meaning of relativity (Albert Einstein)

Duncan Roberts

Come on, at least one Viz annual should be on the list.

NC Penguin

I've only read the Dale Carnegie book and it didn't impact me.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a good choice. I studied it when I was 13 or so in English class. It's a children's book that deals with adult themes. I'm not sure if it's still? on the curriculum in American schools.

Tarkak9

I would have thought the Bible by J.H.C & Friends would be on that list.


The Encyclopedia Of Immaturity
The Brick Testament

tomarense

Have read Uncle Tom, Huck Finn, How to Win Friends and The Feminine Mystique.
I found them all good, however I would suggest "The Sensuous Woman" by "J" and "The Sensuous Man" by "M" (the same author) are better and have been more influential than The Feminine Mystique.

Also "Gone with the Wind" is one of the best historical novels I have read - an accurate portrayal, from what I know of the "South".

However, the book that will prove to be the most influential in American history will be "The Wisdom of GW Bush" by GW Bush.

another bloody yank

Shamefully, I've only read those two.

I'm going to have to reread Atlas Shrugged, it's been a couple years and I want to refresh my memory in order to see if I feel the same way about it in todays financial/corporate context.

robin1234

But did any of them change America?

another bloody yank

I'll add:

1984 by George Orwell

The "Dick and Jane" series. I'd say these helped shape a generation moreso than change America but what the hell.

tomarense

Probably, as they were read.

But more seriously, they did address their time and were critically assessed.

I should have added Catch 22 and The Cardinal to my list.

robin1234

But, isn't Viz a British publication, and largely unknown in America? Somehow I don't see Sandra Burke and Tracey Tunstall changing America but I could be wrong.