the united states of literature

here's a silly project i work on when i'm bored, a big list of books organized by the state they're set in (this is what i do instead of "real" literary criticism). i have a few arbitrary inclusion criteria: must be mostly set in the same state, must have a fairly strong sense of place, must be relatively notable (e.g. have a wikipedia page) and with literary merit. the final call is, as always, based on vibes, and shouldn't be considered that definitive because i haven't even read a lot of these books (yet?). i'm also willing to relax the criteria a bit if it means getting a book in for a tough state... it's still a work in progress, and one day i hope to have at least one entry for every state, if possible. i've tried to avoid filling in the list just by doing something like searching "[state] books" on the internet (where's the fun in that?), so the selection is pretty biased based on my interests and research methods... i think it could definitely benefit from some more non-fiction or poetry.

click a state to jump to its entry

alabama

to kill a mockingbird
harper lee

alaska

call of the wild
jack london
technically the yukon but whatever
the yiddish policemen's union
michael chabon
alaska
james a. michener

arizona

warlock
oakley hall

arkansas

my life
bill clinton
all i know about arkansas is that bill clinton is from there. oh, and walmart...
i know why the caged bird sings
maya angelou

california

east of eden
john steinbeck
of mice and men
john steinbeck
cannery row
john steinbeck
vineland
thomas pynchon
the crying of lot 49
thomas pynchon
most of charles bukowski's work

colorado

centennial
james a. michener
i never hear anyone talk about michener so maybe he's mid, but his works are great for filling out this list

connecticut

delaware

florida

their eyes were watching god
zora neale hurston

georgia

gone with the wind
margaret mitchell

hawaii

hawaii
james a. michener

idaho

illinois

the pale king
david foster wallace
the jungle
upton sinclair
several books by saul bellow

indiana

i don't think vonnegut ever wrote anything about his home state...

iowa

although it's home to the celebrated iowa writers' workshop, i'm having difficulty finding anything for this entry

kansas

butcher's crossing
john williams
the topeka school
ben lerner
in cold blood
truman capote

kentucky

louisiana

a confederacy of dunces
john kennedy toole
all the king's men
robert penn warren
though the location is never specified beyond "the south", putting this here because it was heavily based on the life of huey long

maine

a good portion of stephen king's prodigious output

maryland

the sot-weed factor
john barth

massachusetts

infinite jest
david foster wallace
many works by h. p. lovecraft
most works by nathaniel hawthorne

michigan

the virgin suicides
jeffrey eugenides

minnesota

main street
sinclair lewis

mississippi

basically every book by william faulkner

missouri

the adventures of tom sawyer
mark twain
stoner
john williams

montana

nebraska

my ántonia
willa cather

nevada

fear and loathing in las vegas
hunter s. thompson

new hampshire

new hampshire
robert frost

new jersey

new mexico

death comes for the archbishop
willa cather

new york

a history of new york
washington irving
the age of innocence
edith wharton
the great gatsby
f. scott fitzgerald
little, big
john crowley
the recognitions
william gaddis
the fountainhead
ayn rand
the bonfire of the vanities
tom wolfe
the power broker
robert a. caro
american psycho
brett easton ellis
glamorama
brett easton ellis
my year of rest and relaxation
ottessa moshfegh
the last of the mohicans
james fenimore cooper

north carolina

look homeward, angel
thomas wolfe

north dakota

ohio

winesburg, ohio
sherwood anderson
omensetter's luck
william h. gass
middle c
william h. gass

oklahoma

the grapes of wrath
john steinbeck

oregon

sometimes a great notion
ken kesey
one flew over the cuckoo’s nest
ken kesey

pennsylvania

mason & dixon
thomas pynchon
the "rabbit" series
john updike

rhode island

south carolina

south dakota

tennessee

suttree
cormac mccarthy

texas

texas
james a. michener

utah

desert solitaire
edward abbey

vermont

the secret history
donna tartt
you can also count robert frost here

virginia

washington

the lone ranger and tonto fistfight in heaven
sherman alexie

west virginia

wisconsin

wyoming

brokeback mountain
annie proulx