Another question stolen from Marginal Revolution, this time originally asked by Ryan Holiday: what is the “classic” book of the 80s and 90s?
Holiday describes the typical high school American lit reading list, with a classic for each time period, and asks:
So what book will be required reading for the 80′s and 90′s? The qualifications being that it says something about those decades, not where it’s publication date happens to fall.
I like his own answers, American Psycho or Fight Club—noting that I have read neither but know a reasonable amount about them. Brett Easton Ellis and Chuck Palahniuk are definitely popular suggestions based on comments so far. Tyler Cowen cites Bonfire of the Vanities, and asks, “Dare I mention John Grisham’s The Firm as embodying the blockbuster trend of King, Steele, Clancy and others?” A valid point, I think.
Thinking of this question myself has made me realize how few books I read set in that time period, though. I read plenty of novels set before I was born, and plenty in the time I have adult memories of (say, late 90s to the present), but I feel I lack the perspective to name the To Kill a Mockingbird or The Red Badge of Courage of the 80s or 90s. I do think, however, that The Corrections might be that book for the current decade.
If “American Psycho” will be read in the high schools of the future, the high schools of the future will have changed a lot.
It’s true, though they’ve changed a lot since many other staples were written too. I was sort of thinking that “The Rules of Attraction” seemed very appropriate too.
I don’t think people give enough credit to how controversial seemingly innocent books like Of Mice and Men were at publication. Almost every book considered a classic was burned or banned at one time or another.
I think that makes American Psycho more likely a pick, not less.