The American writer—both real and fictitious, famous and obscure—has traditionally been situated on the margins of society, an outsider looking in. From The Great Gatsby’s Nick Carraway to the millions of bloggers today, writers are generally seen as onlookers documenting the human condition. Yet their own collective story has largely gone untold.

Tracing the role of the writer in the United States over the last century, this book describes how those who use language as a creative medium have held a special place in our collective imagination.

Lawrence R. Samuel is the founder of AmeriCulture, a Miami- and New York-based consultancy helping organizations translate the emerging cultural landscape into business opportunities. He writes the Psychology Yesterday, Boomers 3.0, and Future Trends blogs for PsychologyToday.com. He lives in Miami, Florida.

Lawrence R. Samuel
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 170
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2018
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7102-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2992-6
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
Introduction 4
Chapter 1 • The Modernists, 1920–1939 11
Chapter 2 • The Realists, 1940–1959 37
Chapter 3 • The Intellectuals, 1960–1979 65
Chapter 4 • The Individualists, 1980–1999 93
Chapter 5 • The Nomads, 2000– 120
Chapter Notes 149
Bibliography 159
Index 161

• “A fascinating read and impressive analysis of American literature. Beautifully written and relentlessly researched.”—Bob Eckstein, New York Times bestselling author of Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores