Just after World War II, the United States assumed a new identity, and the writing from the late 1940s and early 1950s reflected this insecurity and moral uncertainty. Next came the writers of the Beat Generation, who had a need to discover or create their own moral truths.

The social and political turbulence of the 1960s propelled many writers to search for narrative structures that would liberate them from the restraints of the modern-day world. The writers of the 1970s were surrounded by political cover-ups and intrigues, which aliented them from the national mainstream. Over the years, a new view emerged: literature became a form of cultural study, resulting in a new interest in writers from traditionally marginalized social groups.

23 entries include: Vance Bourjaily, Harry Crews, Stephen King, Toni Morrison, Anne Tyler, John Updike, Alice Walker, Eudora Welty, and more.