From Elizabeth Stoddard's The Morgesons and Anzia Yzierska's The Bread Givers to Laurie Colwin's Shine On, Bright and Dangerous Object and Chet Raymo's The Dork of Cork, here are some of the forgotten gems of American literature. Bridges has compiled a diverse list of 100 American novels published between 1797 and 1997 and worthy of the title great. Although the idea is to bring light to the obscure, these titles are physically accessible to readers—either in print, or represented in library collections and available through library loan.


For each title, he provides a brief quotation from the book, a plot summary and review commentary, a biographical sketch of the author, a list of the author's other publications, and resources to consult for further information. Intended as a ready reference, this guide will be of particular interest to readers' advisors, and faculty and students of American literature.