In this course, we will read and study novels of twentieth and twenty-first century American writers, from early 1900's realism through Modernists (e.g., Faulkner, Hemingway, Fitzgerald) to more contemporary writers (e.g., Baldwin, Ellison, Erdrich, Roth, Pynchon). We will explore each text in relation to literary, cultural, and historical developments and question the narrative and stylistic strategies specific to each work.