Shaping America one book at a time

One novel talks to another, which talks to another, which talks back to the first two and forward to the next, and so on, one generation of narrative succeeding another till the end of time.

Thomas C. Foster, Twenty-Five Books That Shaped America

Despite what the title suggests, Thomas C. Foster's book Twenty-Five Books That Shaped America has more to do with shaping American literature than with shaping America itself, although one can certainly make the case (and Foster does) that a nation is shaped by its literature.

To be sure, some of the books selected by Foster have had a direct impact on American culture. The Grapes of Wrath showed the haves what life was really like for the have-nots during the Great Depression. To Kill a Mockingbird changed, and continues to change, attitudes toward race in America, as well as attitudes toward those with mental or emotional disabilities. The Cat in the Hat changed American education, replacing Dick and Jane readers with books children actually enjoy reading and leading to Sesame Street in the bargain. Not all influences have been positive. Foster blames Walden for those misguided utopian cults that attempted to withdraw from society and be self-sufficient, as well as those individuals who have misread Thoreau and gone off into the wilderness without the skills or knowledge to survive.

Yet in most cases, Foster concentrates on how certain works of literature have profoundly influenced literature that came later. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin gave justification to all those subsequent creative, somewhat fictional memoirs. American mystery novels, especially those of the hard-boiled variety, continue to show the influence of The Maltese Falcon. The Sun Also Rises "taught America how to write." On the Road "reshaped the sound of modern prose." Virtually all American poetry, Foster writes, owes a debt to Leaves of Grass. A whole generation of black writers was influenced by Their Eyes Were Watching God. William Faulkner, in books like Go Down, Moses, inspired the work of Louise Erdich (Love Medicine), whose own work has in turn inspired other American Indian writers.

Sometimes, as with The Crying of Lot 49, it isn't clear why the book made his list. One could surely make a better case for The Carpetbaggers or anything by Stephen King, for doesn't a widely read book have greater impact than one few people have read? But Foster likes it, and this is his book.

Notice that Foster calls his book Twenty-Five Books That Shaped America, not The Twenty-Five Books That Most Shaped America. He says repeatedly that these are just the 25 books (actually more, since he includes two books by Robert Frost) he chose to write about. He could have mentioned others, and in fact he does at the end of the book. These others include the likes of The Red Badge of Courage, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Winesburg, Ohio, Babbitt, Native Son, The Catcher in the Rye and The House on Mango Street.

He invites readers to form their own list of influential books. "Set your own standard for excellence and greatness," he writes. "Don't take someone else's word for it. Not even mine."

Foster, author of those books with titles like How to Read Literature Like a Professor, has such a spritely writing style that most readers will enjoy even those chapters about books one has little interest in, like The Crying of Lot 49, for example.