Twain should have stopped at chapter 12 in Huck Finn. The rest was something his publisher wanted tacked on.

Lists get odious, and defining "the" greatest novel will never satisfy even a few.

Invisible Man is incredible, as are Blood Meridian and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. They have nothing in common except exemplary writing and story telling. Doesn't mean they're always my favorites--these things shift according to mood. Go Down, Moses and House Made of Dawn are a couple of standards in my collection. Steinbeck's books easily hold their own with any other American masters.

SRS