No, Twain isn't really like that, nor is Stephen Vincent Benet, nor Ambrose Bierce, nor Joshua Branch Cabell, nor H. L. Mencken. Those, along with the obvious ones (Poe and Hawthorne) are my favourite American "classic" writers.
It annoys that the standard model of American literature prioritizes social realism, when our true gift to the world is tales of grotesque fantasy. Entire literary movements can be traced back to Poe, in both verse and prose. He easily eclipses most other writers except maybe for Goethe in historic resonance. Poe is the true grandfather of all of the South American magic realists, and especially of Borges. As well as all detective fiction, and most science fiction. He is just our most important author, even if he never wrote a "great American novel".
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-07-29 10:16 pm (UTC)It annoys that the standard model of American literature prioritizes social realism, when our true gift to the world is tales of grotesque fantasy. Entire literary movements can be traced back to Poe, in both verse and prose. He easily eclipses most other writers except maybe for Goethe in historic resonance. Poe is the true grandfather of all of the South American magic realists, and especially of Borges. As well as all detective fiction, and most science fiction. He is just our most important author, even if he never wrote a "great American novel".