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METACANON 0.10.0
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This is not a greatest books list.

Metacanon is a database that offers an alternative to the genre of the greatest books list. Unlike lists compiled by individuals or small committees of experts, metacanon builds custom book lists by culling data from tens of thousands of scholarly texts. This data-driven approach results in a more comprehensive, flexible, and inclusive gateway into the canon(s).

Metacanon 0.9 is limited primarily to American fiction after 1800, but future updates will expand to include other areas, genres, and periods.

Use the menu below to generate your own version of the canon.

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Include only works published between and .

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Change the weight of these data points in order to change the shape of your canon.









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Image of William Faulkner smoking a pipe with red text overlaid that says 'William Faulkner?'Image of William Faulkner smoking a pipe.

AMERICAN FICTION 1700-2024

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#TitleAuthorYearScore
1◯ Add to wishlist.The EuropeansHenry James187833.90
2◯ Add to wishlist.On the RoadJack Kerouac195729.17
3◯ Add to wishlist.The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald192525.26
4◯ Add to wishlist.The Da Vinci CodeDan Brown200325.02
5◯ Add to wishlist.The Color PurpleAlice Walker198224.49
6◯ Add to wishlist.The Bonfire of the VanitiesTom Wolfe198724.39
7◯ Add to wishlist.CouplesJohn Updike196823.69
8◯ Add to wishlist.Moby DickHerman Melville185123.22
9◯ Add to wishlist.BelovedToni Morrison198722.14
10◯ Add to wishlist.To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee196021.52
11◯ Add to wishlist.The HelpKathryn Stockett200921.45
12◯ Add to wishlist.The NamesDon DeLillo198221.31
13◯ Add to wishlist.Invisible ManRalph Ellison195220.42
14◯ Add to wishlist.Gone with the WindMargaret Mitchell193620.15
15◯ Add to wishlist.The Grapes of WrathJohn Steinbeck193919.62
16◯ Add to wishlist.RagtimeE. L. Doctorow197519.39
17◯ Add to wishlist.LolitaVladimir Nabokov195519.39
18◯ Add to wishlist.Water for ElephantsSara Gruen200619.03
19◯ Add to wishlist.Catch-22Joseph Heller196118.92
20◯ Add to wishlist.The Catcher in the RyeJ. D. Salinger195117.89
21◯ Add to wishlist.The GodfatherMario Puzo196917.69
22◯ Add to wishlist.Little WomenLouisa May Alcott186917.66
23◯ Add to wishlist.Uncle Tom's CabinHarriet Beecher Stowe185217.61
24◯ Add to wishlist.DuneFrank Herbert196517.46
25◯ Add to wishlist.The ShiningStephen King197717.46
26◯ Add to wishlist.The CorrectionsJonathan Franzen200117.18
27◯ Add to wishlist.Washington SquareHenry James188017.12
28◯ Add to wishlist.Adventures of Huckleberry FinnMark Twain188417.09
29◯ Add to wishlist.Jurassic ParkMichael Crichton199016.91
30◯ Add to wishlist.Portnoy's ComplaintPhilip Roth196916.76
31◯ Add to wishlist.CarrieStephen King197416.67
32◯ Add to wishlist.The Bridges of Madison CountyRobert James Waller199216.52
33◯ Add to wishlist.The Age of InnocenceEdith Wharton192016.40
34◯ Add to wishlist.The HoursMichael Cunningham199816.37
35◯ Add to wishlist.Slaughterhouse-FiveKurt Vonnegut196916.37
36◯ Add to wishlist.Of Mice and MenJohn Steinbeck193716.34
37◯ Add to wishlist.VillagesJohn Updike200416.25
38◯ Add to wishlist.Lonesome DoveLarry McMurtry198516.19
39◯ Add to wishlist.JawsPeter Benchley197415.94
40◯ Add to wishlist.A Dance With DragonsGeorge R. R. Martin201115.65
41◯ Add to wishlist.Atlas ShruggedAyn Rand195715.62
42◯ Add to wishlist.JazzToni Morrison199215.59
43◯ Add to wishlist.Charlotte's WebE. B. White195215.56
44◯ Add to wishlist.The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time IndianSherman Alexie200715.52
45◯ Add to wishlist.The Hunt for Red OctoberTom Clancy198415.46
46◯ Add to wishlist.TwilightStephenie Meyer200515.43
47◯ Add to wishlist.The Lovely BonesAlice Sebold200215.43
48◯ Add to wishlist.One Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestKen Kesey196215.39
49◯ Add to wishlist.The Sun Also RisesErnest Hemingway192615.36
50◯ Add to wishlist.The Kite RunnerKhaled Hosseini200315.33
51◯ Add to wishlist.Sophie's ChoiceWilliam Styron197915.26
52◯ Add to wishlist.StonerJohn Williams196515.26
53◯ Add to wishlist.Native SonRichard Wright194015.23
54◯ Add to wishlist.Infinite JestDavid Foster Wallace199615.20
55◯ Add to wishlist.The House of MirthEdith Wharton190514.90
56◯ Add to wishlist.Cold MountainCharles Frazier199714.83
57◯ Add to wishlist.The FountainheadAyn Rand194314.70
58◯ Add to wishlist.HerzogSaul Bellow196414.66
59◯ Add to wishlist.The JungleUpton Sinclair190614.59
60◯ Add to wishlist.The AmbassadorsHenry James190314.49
61◯ Add to wishlist.American PsychoBret Easton Ellis199114.49
62◯ Add to wishlist.U.S.A.John Dos Passos193814.39
63◯ Add to wishlist.Song of SolomonToni Morrison197714.32
64◯ Add to wishlist.The Turn of the ScrewHenry James189814.32
65◯ Add to wishlist.Gravity's RainbowThomas Pynchon197314.28
66◯ Add to wishlist.The VictimSaul Bellow194714.21
67◯ Add to wishlist.The NotebookNicholas Sparks199614.07
68◯ Add to wishlist.Memoirs of a GeishaArthur Golden199714.04
69◯ Add to wishlist.ChristineStephen King198313.93
70◯ Add to wishlist.The Old Man and the SeaErnest Hemingway195213.89
71◯ Add to wishlist.A Storm Of SwordsGeorge R. R. Martin200013.89
72◯ Add to wishlist.The Hunger GamesSuzanne Collins200813.89
73◯ Add to wishlist.The World According to GarpJohn Irving197813.86
74◯ Add to wishlist.Left BehindTim LaHaye199513.82
75◯ Add to wishlist.Goodbye, ColumbusPhilip Roth195913.82
76◯ Add to wishlist.All the King's MenRobert Penn Warren194613.78
77◯ Add to wishlist.Love StoryErich Segal197013.78
78◯ Add to wishlist.The Joy Luck ClubAmy Tan198913.75
79◯ Add to wishlist.The Portrait of a LadyHenry James188113.67
80◯ Add to wishlist.The NaturalBernard Malamud195213.56
81◯ Add to wishlist.The Scarlet LetterNathaniel Hawthorne185013.53
82◯ Add to wishlist.The Bell JarSylvia Plath196313.45
83◯ Add to wishlist.The FallsJoyce Carol Oates200413.42
84◯ Add to wishlist.The Naked and the DeadNorman Mailer194813.30
85◯ Add to wishlist.The Plot Against AmericaPhilip Roth200413.27
86◯ Add to wishlist.A Feast For CrowsGeorge R. R. Martin200513.23
87◯ Add to wishlist.The Secret Life of BeesSue Monk Kidd200213.19
88◯ Add to wishlist.All That IsJames Salter201313.19
89◯ Add to wishlist.The MarchE. L. Doctorow200513.19
90◯ Add to wishlist.Bright Lights, Big CityJay McInerney198413.11
91◯ Add to wishlist.Fear of FlyingErica Jong197313.00
92◯ Add to wishlist.Tropic of CancerHenry Miller193412.92
93◯ Add to wishlist.American PastoralPhilip Roth199712.88
94◯ Add to wishlist.Breakfast at Tiffany'sTruman Capote195812.88
95◯ Add to wishlist.The Big SleepRaymond Chandler193912.85
96◯ Add to wishlist.The Silence of the LambsThomas Harris198812.81
97◯ Add to wishlist.The DeepPeter Benchley197612.77
98◯ Add to wishlist.Guys and DollsDamon Runyon193212.77
99◯ Add to wishlist.The Bluest EyeToni Morrison197012.77
100◯ Add to wishlist.GhostsEdith Wharton193712.77

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N-gram Frequency Correction.

Titles consisting of words or phrases that are exceedingly common in the English language corpus (such as Stephen King's It or Joyce Carol Oates's them) tend to be overrepresented in search results, thus resulting in an artificially inflated citation count. To counteract this tendency, Metacanon adjusts the scores for these works accordingly. Scores subjected to n-gram frequency correction are estimates only and are marked with an asterisk. N-gram frequencies are drawn from the Corpus of Contemporary American English.

We apply a slightly different n-gram frequency correction to New York Times citation counts. These are marked with a dagger, where applicable.

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Non-unique author Correction.

Books by authors with a non-unique name (for example "Winston Churchill," the American novelist) tend to be overrepresented in search results, thus resulting in an artificially inflated citation count. To counteract this tendency, Metacanon adjusts the scores for these works accordingly. Scores subjected to non-unique author correction are estimates only and are marked with a double dagger.