empty mirror
remember the jackalope
Faulkner-- Light in August is really one of the more overlooked ones.
Steinbeck is great if you're a social realist. I remember liking that one where the women feeds the grown man her breast milk during the depression. I forget what it's called...
^ that's grapes of wrath. i've only read that among his novels; i read his shorter works when i was a teenager and i developed a hatred for him, and social realism at large. it took me until this year to read Grapes and i was bowled over. the man can write. the story of the joads is broken up by these slice of life interludes that don't have much to do with the thrust of the narrative. i suppose it is possible to just read those odd chapters and still get a lot out of the book. but really, it is a good book to read now, because it really puts you in touch with the forces that interposed industry between humans and the food we eat (and the land it is grown on).
honestly, i generally hate when artists use art to serve their agendas, but the man can write; even if you don't follow or buy into the ideas he is putting forth, his use of language, and his ear for speech, is remarkable.