(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Contemporary Fiction Views: Recent Great American novels [1] ['Nanny Ogg', 'News Corpse'] Date: 2026-06-30 This week, during the occasion of the 250th anniversary that the Declaration of Independence was signed, it’s far too easy to see how the meaning of that document has been discarded and its words denounced by the actions of the charlatans who try to hide behind it. But this week also is an occasion to remember the Declaration, the foundation of what it means and fighting to make the truths of the founding self-evident again. Toward that goal, there is fiction. Yes, we do tell ourselves stories in order to live, in order to nourish and nurture ourselves. There are myriad novels that tell at least part of the story of America. While I doubt it is possible that there is one Great American Novel, there are many that are great in conveying the triumphs and trauma of this experiment in honoring life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In the last few years, writers have continued to find different ways to tell part of that overall story. Here are some of those novels published within the past three years that are as American as apple pie. I have only included those I have read, and limited the scope of publishing years because that is the range of this weekly diary. What other more contemporary novels should be included? James by Percival Everett Huck Finn and his world as seen by James, the enslaved man who fled with the child. North Woods by Daniel Mason The years in a specific American spot with a wide-ranging cast of those who call it home. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore The restorative beauty of an American forest and the evil of those who desire money and power. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett A Covid lockdown story of a family with the uber American story Our Town as its touchstone. All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby A Black sheriff confronts systemic racism and religious hatred in his Virginia town. And a serial killer who targets Black people. Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Convicts are promised the chance of freedom as they face death in the televised, highly profitable, gory games that show what can happen when a nation values money, bigotry and reality TV over decency. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride The Black residents and Jewish owners of a local market struggle and care for each other in a 1920s small Pennsylvania town. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones A preacher who is no man of God, a young indigenous man whose curiosity turns his life into tragedy, a monster who hunts those who hunted him through the years, the bloodsucking horrors of colonialization and a little white buffalo tell a story about America and the white takeover of the West that shows the hollowness and cruelty in the myth of Manifest Destiny. One of the most powerful novels about America that will stay with a reader forever. ————————————— Some of this week’s new fiction, with links to The Literate Lizard and descriptions by the publishers. The Top of the World by Ethan Joella une 1975. Maggie Bishop has just graduated high school, the future hers to embrace—but she’s still reeling from the death of her older brother, Chip. A devastating diagnosis the summer before prompted Chip to leave home for a few months, never revealing where he went. Maggie’s search for clues leads her to The Red Maple Inn, a mountaintop resort in the Poconos. At the Red Maple, Maggie is welcomed into a tight-knit community. As she unravels secrets about her brother’s final days, she begins to connect with the people he loved, and whose lives he touched. Through the warmth of strangers, Maggie begins to heal and is able to help others cope with loss. The Revelation of Dionne Daphne by Mara Brock Akil From the outside looking in, one might say that Dionne Daphne had it all: being the beauty editor at a prestigious New York magazine, a boyfriend who could have been plucked out of its model pages, the social life of the upper echelon, and a girlhood steeped in debutant balls. But that is from the outside. When the now ex-boyfriend arrives at her Brooklyn doorstep Dionne imagines reconciliation, going back to the good life brimming with the possibility of marriage; the life her mother always wanted for her. Instead, he delivers life-threatening news that creates a crack in her picture-perfect world. A crack that grows legs and runs her right into her past, unearthing a secret that she has hidden since childhood. In an effort to run toward the truth and away from a lie, Dionne sets out on a spur of the moment road trip with an unlikely stranger to confront the long-buried darkness of her past and the family who made it so. As Dionne comes to a final reckoning, she begins to unravel new layers of herself and fresh possibilities for her life, her family, and even her love. Wasp’s Nest by Kat Stoddard Tess wants nothing more than for her upcoming society wedding to overshadow the failure of her first marriage. Her fiancé, Warren, a steady soon-to-be state senator, is nothing like her first husband. Tess’s relationship with working-class artist Peter was a passionate crash-and-burn and a chapter of her life that she’s ready to forget. Peter hasn’t seen Tess in five years, so he’s shocked to receive an invitation to her wedding. But he’s moved on too, and it wouldn’t hurt to prove it by showing up with a handsome younger man as his plus-one. Mitch, an aspiring writer, is intrigued by Peter and jumps at the chance to pry into the lives of his Waspy ex-in-laws. What Mitch doesn’t bargain for is developing serious feelings for both Peter and Peter’s ex—Tess, the bride. But Peter and Tess have complex desires of their own, and Mitch is dangerously close to uncovering them. Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay Meet Julia Flang, a twenty-something former semi-professional gamer, living with her retired uncle, and working two jobs she doesn’t like. Out of the blue, her estranged mother, a CFO for one of the world’s largest tech companies, offers her a temp job with a payday Julia can’t refuse. One sham interview later, she’s offered the job: to chaperone a man in a vegetative state—one with proprietary AI implanted in his head—from California to the East Coast. To sum up in Julia’s own words: “You want me to remote control this dead dude across the country.” In a word, yes. But he’s not dead dead. Meet a middle-aged man who wakes within a disorienting hellscape filled with monstrous grotesqueries. Worse than the fluid, morphing reality in which he’s trapped, he has no memory of who he is. He certainly doesn’t remember getting the rabbit tattoo on his arm. He only knows that he must find a certain person. Who? He can’t remember. Using a cell phone modeled after a video game controller, Julia fumblingly navigates the man she calls “Bernie” from the company campus and onto planes and through one of the largest airports in America. All the while, the man endures an ever-changing and worsening nightmare that offers clues as to who he was—and who he must track down. And as their two lives intertwine, Julia and Bernie become unlikely allies and fugitives on a collision course with reality. The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson When Caroline Lash arrives in Greenhead, Massachusetts, she falls head-over-heels for Van Whittaker, a fleece-wearing, litter-collecting, kayak enthusiast with long, floppy hair and the personality of a Border collie. Born and raised in this picturesque coastal village, Van runs with the same crowd he did as a kid: His ex-girlfriend, Bailey, a beautiful girl who attracts men like moths to a flame; Augusta, old money, horsey, and snobbish; and Fran, surrounded by brothers and sons, too fed up with boys to ever consider marrying one. Together, the group runs wild through the marshes, beaches, and bars of Greenhead, drinking on houseboats, spending long afternoons sunbathing with their children, and playing games the way they always have. But when Bailey discovers that she is pregnant with Van’s baby, the delicate balance of the group’s friendship is thrown off. Soon Caroline is cast out of the circle and what she does next—in a potent mix of fury and heartbreak—exposes long-held secrets and works the entire town of Greenhead into a lather. Dazzlingly funny, sexy, and as juicy as it is astute, The Shampoo Effect is a story of late-night parties, early mornings with small children, the dawn of midlife, and a group of old friends finally growing up despite all their best efforts to the contrary. Carrion Crow by Heather Parry Marguerite Périgord is locked in the attic of her family home, a towering Chelsea house overlooking the stinking Thames. For company she has a sewing machine, Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, and a carrion crow who has come to nest in the rafters. Restless, she spends her waning energies on the fascinations of her own body, memorising Mrs. Beeton’s advice and longing for life outside. Cécile Périgord has confined her daughter Marguerite for her own good. Cécile is concerned that Marguerite’s engagement to a much older, near-penniless solicitor, will drag the family name – her husband’s name, that is – into disrepute. And for Cécile, who has worked hard at her own betterment, this simply won’t do. Cécile’s life has taught her that no matter how high a woman climbs she can just as readily fall. Of course, both have their secrets, intentions and histories to hide. As Marguerite’s patience turns into rage, the boundaries of her mind and body start to fray. And neither woman can recognise what the other is becoming. Devotions by Lucy Caldwell A striking new collection from Lucy Caldwell—winner of the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, and the BBC National Short Story Award A young Belfast theatre troupe brings their experimental production of Hamlet to New York. On a night-flight, travelling with a violin older than the United States, a professional musician slips through time. A man who loses all he thought he had, and finds himself haunted by all he never will, comes to a painful new understanding of what it might mean to love. Transporting and profound, these are stories of love, grief, longing, of new beginnings, and the ways we find shelter in each other. July Sun: Stories by Aamina Ahmad In these seven searing, atmospheric stories, Aamina Ahmad finds a world of pathos in the tightest circumstances, from the fugitive intimacies of villages where nothing escapes notice to the crevices where city-dwellers seek refuge from urban striving and indifference. A man witnesses the last tender moment between two lovers before fate intervenes. A woman takes matters into her own hands in the face of an unexpected pregnancy. A young girl’s perception of her father is forever altered when she follows him to a secret meeting. A police officer must choose between the laws of God and man. Capturing the plight of ordinary people caught between love and duty, action and indecision, freedom and the constraints of tradition, July Sun more than sustains the promise of Ahmad’s exceptionally sure-footed debut. Small Comfort by Ia Genberg From a successful child actor who has now turned into a failing thief to an actor hired to give a speech at a stranger’s wedding to a couple feigning married bliss to keep their inheritance, Small Comfort brilliantly examines the value of people and money. Capturing the profound beauty of everyday moments, each tale is an evocative journey written with sharp insight and emotional depth. From the subtle undercurrents of wealth and loss to the naked vulgarity of greed, Small Comfort invites us to reflect on the ways in which material pursuits can fulfill or betray us. Whether it’s illuminating the fragile comfort found in wealth or the devastating consequences of its absence, Ia Genberg’s narratives resonate with universal truths about human nature, vulnerability, and ambition, and effortlessly reminds us of their deeper meaning. The Fantasies of Future Things by Doug Jones Daily interactions between Jacob and Daniel are a powder keg of sexual tension and uncertainty. A recent Morehouse graduate and Brooklyn transplant, Jacob fears that accepting the truth of his sexuality will disappoint the hopes his parents have for him to lead a respectable life. Grieving the death of his mother while searching for answers about a father he has never known, Daniel, an Atlanta native, has resigned himself to the reality that men who love men don’t have happy endings. When Jacob meets Sherman, a social worker fighting for one of the families being displaced by the project, he must decide if rejecting security is worth the risk of embracing the unknown. In the midst of navigating his grief, and volatile relationship with Jacob, Daniel learns of his father’s identity. Though meeting his father could provide Daniel with the closure he has always sought, the distance between what Daniel wants and what he’s willing to do for it remains a question only he can answer. READERS & BOOK LOVERS SERIES SCHEDULE [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/6/30/800062705/community/contemporary-fiction-views-recent-great-american-novels/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/