New York Times Book Review’s staff editor Jennifer Szalai and Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid take on the question: Where is the Great American Novel by a woman?
In her answer Szalai writes, “Rather than agonizing over specific examples, we could take a closer look at our long-running national obsession. The label ‘Great American Novel’ has shown itself elastic enough to include or exclude, depending on who’s doing the labeling.”
In his answer, Hamid states, “Ah, I’ve heard it said too often, those women-written books may be fine, there may be some good American novels among them, even great American novels, but they aren’t the Great American Novel. So I’ve come to make an announcement. There is no such thing.”
We think you’ll enjoy reading the essays in their entirety here.
