What's a Great American Novel?

Before endeavoring on the Great American Novel Challenge (GANC), I thought it a wise idea to contemplate what I feel contributes to making a novel a great American one. Some of these concepts I drew from American novels I have read and things I feel typify an American ideal. Not all the novels will meet these criteria, and I believe that is the point, and American in its own way.

1. The novel is set in the United States, areas that will eventually become the United States, or if abroad have its main characters be American.

2. The novel is patriotic. No, I am not talking waving the red, white and blue and such. Maybe a better term would be pro-American. I have read a book or two by American authors who shun their roots and cast America in a bad light. While I do not expect the places and characters of the books I read to be put on a pedestal as an American archetype to live up to, a great American novel should not bash the U.S. or be harsh to it.

3. Some set of characters in each novel should have an independent, can-do attitude. I feel this is one of the great American stereotypes that we tend to be happy to live up to. And usually to accomplish this can-do plan...

4. Theme of man against a force larger than self. To be independent means to not rely on something other people do - the city, the boss, inheritance, etc. And sometimes people must fight to be rid of that dependence. Fight against, nature, expectations, culture, industry. Tame something, if you will.

5. In that fighting against a force (not the Force, mind you), one must explore...something. It could be the vast plains of the West, an Indian tribe as new settlers, a new idea or way of living, or maybe a internal exploration of self.

6. Maybe it is the Texan in me, but I think a great American novel should have some essence of grandiosity and vastness. Whether it is a big sky, a big tract of land or a big hope and aim, at some point I want awe.

7. The culture of the book, whatever it is, wherever its set, has to be true and rich and deep. The author should write beyond the stereotype, whether to disprove it or to display why it exists and if it should be lauded. Surely not all Texans ride horses and not all New England Italians are in the mafia.

8. True to life. Harry Potter may be a good book, but I doubt Great Britain is like Hogwarts. The events and people have to something I could reasonably imagine in the time and place they find themselves in the story.

9. However, part of America is its tall tales - Paul Bunyan, John Henry, and Johnny Appleseed - so maybe a stretcher or two is okay. People like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone were people whose fame stretched beyond reality, but in a way that only heightened the "American-ness" of them. Purposeful fantasy, if you will.

All of these qualities may not exist in every novel I read, but I certainly hope that a majority of them are present in some sense. I know that in reading these thirteen books, my opinion of what makes a great American novel will change, and I anticipate the revelations, both from my own reading and the reviews of the other GANC participants. It should be an exciting and exploratory thirteen months.

Bye-bye, Apple II

Hello Raleigh friends! This post is just for y'all. Last night on TV I saw something that I have long awaited - a electronics recycling day! I have housed some outdated electronics in my apartment for some time now, trying in vain to find an electronics recycling service in or around Raleigh. And then, last night as I am watching TV, I learn that Fox 50 is sponsoring E-cycling Day this Saturday, June 27. You can go to one of three Best Buy locations around the Triangle and drop of your old or broken electronics. And you do not even have to get out of your car - how sweet it that?

Just remember that if you are doing away with a CPU or anything that contains data (phone numbers, social security numbers, bomb codes, your grandma's cherry pie recipe), to erase it off the system. And not put it in the electronic trash bin on your computer - wipe your CPU clean. I do not have the name handy of the one(s) Aaron recommended to me, so if you are reading this, Aaron (hi!), could you post the links in the comments section? Thanks!

If you have some mice, radios, monitors, TVs, cell phones or medical equipment around your place, drop them off Saturday between 10-2 at one of the indicated Best Buys. See link for full list of acceptable items.

(If you do not get my post title, maybe this will help.)

Saturday Summer Supper

Sometimes, a gal just needs to eat a man meal, you know? This is the closest I have come to recreating one of my family's typical summer dinners since I left. All it lacks is some marinated cucumber salad and lemon ice cream.


The steak is a flat iron with my new favorite Alton Brown marinade on it. I got this recipe from AB's I'm Just Here for the Food: Version 2.0. Here is the recipe, Rhapsody for Red (Meat):

4 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, left whole but lightly crushed
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Target cut of meat

Mix all the ingredients together minus the meat. Put meat and marinade in plastic bag, squeeze out all the air. Place in the fridge and let it sit for 2-8 hours until ready to cook.

I have used flank and flat iron steaks, but AB says he likes it on just about any form of red meat. He also says this marinade is good to use before any cooking method. I pan grilled mine - about 4 minutes on each side over medium heat. The marinade makes enough for about 2 pounds of meat, so change the recipe to your proportion. Really good steaks.

The beans are my taste of home. I feel like my mom made these baked beans about once a month during the summer and, come Sunday leftover dinner, it was a scramble to see who would get the last of the beans. They are all mine this time!

4 1 lb cans of pork and beans or near equivalent
1 bottle ketchup (14 oz)
1 bell pepper, chopped (my mom does not use this)
2 small onions, chopped
6 Tbsp brown sugar
4 Tbsp molasses
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
Bacon

Mix all together. Place in a 9x13 casserole dish or pan. Top with bacon (strips or cut into pieces and arrange over top of the dish).
Bake at 300 for 2 hours, uncovered.

Perfect Saturday in June dinner. Fill a tall glass with some iced sun tea, and you are good to go.

B(ad) Movies

We have all experienced the disappointment. You rent a movie that a friend of a friend recommended or showed up on a list a favorite blogger of yours produced. You excitedly pop the popcorn, create your movie-watching habitat and press play. Slow going at first, but you figure it will pick up. Around the 30-minute mark you begin stealing glances at the run time to see how much you have left to sit through. At about 50 minutes, you begin wondering whether your time and already spent money would be better used watching the rest of this disaster or re-alphabetizing your books. You just fell for the bad movie.

While I have no answers on how to avoid the bad movie situation, I do have an excellent resource for so-bad-they're-good B movies. AMC recently started a website called BMC where you can watch free B movies online. Classics such as What a Carve Up, A Swingin' Summer, The Crawling Eye, and Saga of the Viking Woman - all can be found at BMC. They may have been the type of movie that I initially described, but by now they certainly fit into the latter category.