American Novel. The problem of the Lost Generation. The Era of Modernism in American prose.

The "Great American Novel" is the concept of a novel that is distinguished in both craft and theme as being the most accurate representative of the zeitgeist in the United States at the time of its writing. It is presumed to be written by an American author who is knowledgeable about the state, culture, and perspective of the common American citizen. In historical terms, it is sometimes equated as being the American response to the national epic.

The "Lost Generation" is a term used to refer to the generation, actually an age cohort that came of age during World War I. The term was popularized by Ernest Hemingway who used it as one of two contrasting epigraphs for his novel, "The Sun Also Rises." In that volume Hemingway credits the phrase to Gertrude Stein, who was then his mentor and patron. In "A Movable Feast," which was published after Hemingway and Stein had had a famous feud and fallen apart, and indeed after they were both dead, Hemingway reveals that the phrase was actually originated by the garage owner who serviced Stein's car. When a young mechanic failed to repair the car in a way satisfactory to Stein, the owner shouted at him, "You are all a generation perdue." Stein, in telling Hemingway the story, added, "That is what you are. That's what you all are... All of you young people who served in the war. You are a lost generation."

Ernest Hemingway (1899– 1961) was an American author and journalist. His distinctive writing style, characterized by economy and understatement, influenced 20th-century fiction, as did his life of adventure and public image. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Hemingway's fiction was successful because the characters he presented exhibited authenticity that resonated with his audience. Many of his works are classics of American literature. He published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works during his lifetime; a further three novels, four collections of short stories, and three non-fiction works were published posthumously.

“The Old Man and the Sea” is a novella written by American author Ernest Hemingway. It was the last major work of fiction to be produced by Hemingway and published in his lifetime. One of his most famous works, it centers upon Santiago, an aging Cuban fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream.

“A Farewell to Arms” is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Ernest Hemingway concerning events during the Italian campaigns during the First World War. The book is a first-person account of American Frederic Henry, serving as a Lieutenant ("Tenente") in the ambulance corps of the Italian Army.

“A Farewell to Arms” works on two literary levels. First, it is a story concerning the drama and passion of a doomed romance between Henry and a British nurse, Catherine Barkley. Second, it also skillfully contrasts the meaning of personal tragedy against the impersonal destruction wrought by the Great War. Hemingway deftly captures the cynicism of soldiers, the futility of war, and the displacement of populations.

Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost Generation" of the 1920s. He finished four novels, “This Side of Paradise”, “The Beautiful and Damned”, “Tender is the Night” and his most famous, “The Great Gatsby”.

“The Great Gatsby” is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922. The novel takes place following the First World War. American society enjoyed prosperity during the "roaring" 1920s as the economy soared. At the same time, Prohibition, the ban on the sale and manufacture of alcohol as mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment, made millionaires out of bootleggers. It quickly found a wide readership and is today widely regarded as a paragon of the Great American Novel, and a literary classic. “The Great Gatsby” has become a standard text in high school and university courses on American literature in countries around the world and is ranked second in the Modern Library's lists of the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century.

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