Classic American Fiction

Original video clips and interviews with some of the most risky literary artists about the greatest writer of the 50s and 60s.

Dec 7, 2009 - Jennifer Berube

Here is a straightforward guide to some of the best Beat Culture Documentaries.

Dec 7, 2009 - Jennifer Berube

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger was the most frequently banned book between 1966 and 1975 because it violated the social morals and standards of the time.

Dec 2, 2009 - Maddison Newburg

Kate Chopin's Story of an Hour gives new meaning to the passing of time. Reader's are taken on a literary journey quite enlightening for both now and then.

Nov 29, 2009 - Cresta McGowan

The speaker's dream offers a terrifying insight into human nature while probing the origins of sin and its theological implications.

Nov 28, 2009 - Christopher Mansour

Edgar Allan Poe's tragic life often steals the spotlight from his riveting literature oeuvre.

Nov 26, 2009 - Apostolos Kostoulas

E.B. White, most widely known for his children's books like Charlotte's Web, also crafted some intriguing short stories and essays going deep into the human soul.

Nov 25, 2009 - Cresta McGowan

With its bizarre juxtaposition of thoughts and ideas, surrealist art often evokes the mental conflict between conscious desire and subconscious yearning.

Nov 25, 2009 - Christopher Mansour

Like myth, literature often depicts dreams as the gateway to the spirit world. Trapped within a surreal world, the dreamer confronts a most unsettling revelation.

Nov 25, 2009 - Christopher Mansour

A heart-warming and compulsively readable novel, Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants transports readers to the weird and colourful life of American circus in the 1930s.

Nov 16, 2009 - Cheryn Tan

Kate Chopin's 1898 short story tells of a passionate encounter between two old flames as they seek shelter from the raging elements.

Nov 14, 2009 - Jeris Swanhorst

Of all his short stories, O. Henry's "The Last Leaf" is his simplest and most heartfelt tale of how even a failed artist may offset selfishness with the gift of love.

Nov 14, 2009 - Jeffrey Willett

Bartleby's infamous "I would prefer not to" can be interpreted as blank, silent speech, which also expresses Melville's refusal to further explain his story.

Nov 13, 2009 - Rebekah Richards

The lure of blankness exists in three paradigms in Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener": Bartleby, the narrator, and the reader/critic.

Nov 13, 2009 - Rebekah Richards

In his famed poem "Lucy Gray," William Wordsworth plays with an age old notion that is at once supernatural and relatable.

Nov 8, 2009 - Susan Hunsinger

In a romantic story reminiscent of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, despite many obstacles, a recluse and an invalid fall in love and make a happy marriage.

Nov 5, 2009 - Vickie Britton

Theodore Dreiser uses money to illustrate Carrie's changing self-image. In this naturalistic novel, money and happiness come close, but never quite intersect.

Nov 4, 2009 - Eva Gordon

Rip Van Winkle, set in the Catskill Mountains of New York, has been a part of American folklore since its publication in 1819. However, its roots go further back.

Nov 3, 2009 - John K. Davis

Willa Cather was not born in Red Cloud, but the years she spent in the small Nebraska town provided inspiration for some of her best-known novels about prairie life.

Nov 1, 2009 - Vickie Britton

Although known for its uninhibited and at times brazen and graphic depiction of sex, this book is widely considered as one of the 20th century's influential masterpieces.

Oct 29, 2009 - Yahan Wu

Ray Bradbury's near-future tale of a nation built around a false identity and acquiescence through baseless entertainment is a precautionary omen.

Oct 23, 2009 - Nicholas Morine

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has been a part of American folklore since its first publication in 1820. However, its roots are German, English and Scottish.

Oct 12, 2009 - John K. Davis

A feminist criticism of the novel reveals Wharton's views on the status of women at the turn of the 20th Century and is relevant for young women of today.

Oct 7, 2009 - Holly Anderson

Emily Grierson hasn't left her old, decaying house for years. When she dies, the townspeople learn the gruesome secret she's been keeping.

Oct 5, 2009 - Jeris Swanhorst

In the nineteenth century, Nathaniel Hawthorne explored the supernatural in many of his stories set in Puritan New England.

Sep 30, 2009 - Roberta Laurie