[Physicist]

Neuromancer by William Gibson.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Mobey Dick.

[bleudevil]

I think Xena's mom is right, but some runners-up are "The Great Gatsby" and for modern times, Tom Wolfe's "The Bonfire of the Vanities." There are so many out there to choose from!

[bleudevil]

It's not as well-written as some of the others on the list, but "Atlas Shrugged" shows the spirit that makes America great.

[rdww]

To use the proper academic term, bite me... I vote for Gravity's Rainbow.

[lovecraft]

The Stand - By Steven King

I could also nominate The Gunslinger: Part 1 if The Dark Tower series....

[KellyAdmirer]

The Caine Mutiny for those over 50.

American Psycho for those under.

[KC_Conspirator]

Huck Finn by all acounts is the greatest America novel.

As far as Gen Xer's go, there is no great book of our generation. Our peers are too busy complaning, pulling bong hits, and talking about their latest body piercing.

What the hell is Gravity's Rainbow?

[Petronski]

< /humility off >

I'm writing it now, it's called Wounds, Our Hearts, and I expect it to be published by 2003.

< /humility on >

[dagny taggert]

I nominate Chesapeake by James Michener.

[Dr. Frank fan]

I don't see why Huck Finn won't work for all generations. That includes "Gen-X". (Of which I am a member.)

I'm not even sure what a "Gen-X" novel would be. There is of course always the novel which coined the phrase. There is also hugely long crap like the Gravity's Rainbow which you mentioned, which seems to be popular among certain circles, for reasons I do not understand. A similar one in this category would be Infinite Jest, which I could only get about 10-15% of the way through.

I guess I'd have to say the best "Gen-X novel" I've read - if you can call it that - would have to be Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.

Not that it holds a candle to Huck Finn of course.

[geaux]

One of my favorites was "One flew over the cuckoo's nest." I'm not one of those high-falutin' professor types, and I don't know what a novel needs to have to make it "great," but that was one of the best reads I've ever had.

[B-Chan]

A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens.

[Pietro]

For gen-xers I'd say "Breakfast of Champions" by K Vonnegut or "Slaughter House Five" by the same author. Combines absurd existentialism w/ humorous nihilism.

Or anything by Tom Wolf.

[untenured]

Don't know what you mean by "GAN," but novels that reflect themes with which Americans can (more than other peoples, IMHO) easily identify are Huckleberry Finn, A Scarlet Letter and Catch-22.

[brbethke]

For Gen-X'ers? I nominate Tank Girl --- not the movie, the comic book.

[Pharmboy]

Blood Meridian for any generation. Brilliant.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Naturally I nominate For Whom The Bell Tolls.

But seriously, if you haven't read Andre Dubus III's The House of Sand and Fog, you're missing out on some terrific modern fiction. Though Andre's style is very different from his father's, he's every bit as good.

As a writer, I'm a literary non-fiction kind. I'd suggest Thompson's Hell's Angels, Lucas' Common Ground, and Herr's Dispatches for anyone interested in the genre.

[Billthedrill]

Listen to yer mum...Huckleberry Finn IS America.

Well, lessee...in order for a book to claim to be the GAN, IMHO it must (1) be written by an American (sorry, Prof. Tolkien); (2) take place in America; and (3) be about America in some form. Kesey's a bit long in the tooth for a gen-X claim or I might suggest Sometimes A Great Notion. The Right Stuff, of course, is not a novel. Hmm...

Well, maybe I ought to go with Physicist - Neuromancer is a little like plugging your brain into a wall socket...

[Non-Sequitur]

"To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.