The Best American Book of the 20th Century*

Are Pearl S. Buck, Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, Margaret Mitchell, Ayn Rand, John Steinbeck, Daphne du Maurier, J. D. Salinger, Stephen King and Toni Morrison telling a similar story? By constructing The Best American Book from the first ten sentences of the 100 best-selling books of American fiction written between 1900 and 1999, the artist cooperative Socit Raliste has created a compelling intertextual narrative in which a multitude of cultural shifts converse. In the process, this publication projecta collaboration among Socit Raliste, New York multidisciplinary design studio Project Projects, and Dutch project space Onomatopee 100traverses formal standards of language and provokes questions regarding the dynamics of reader and writer, creating an opportunity to reflect upon modernitys spell on our present collective imagination. Each sentence is footnoted with its reference. This little book is a hysterical and challenging reading experience for all!