R: There Is No Great American Novel

Thursday, February 9th, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. in the Berkeley Mendenhall Room

Anonymous. Allegorical Portrait of Dante. circa 1530s. 165.7 x 158.8 cm. National Gallery of Art, District of Columbia.

Does there exist a novel that can serve as the tome of American literature?  What place do American novels have in comparison to literature from other cultures and traditions?