It doesn't have to be American, Kristin, but my core reading list is more light on American writers. (Shakespeare, Atwood, Wilde, Marquez, Byatt, and then the comedy .....). Even my secondary list is light on American writers. But a nice balance of men and women at least. I think the Americans I have on the secondary list might only be Kingsolver so far!

OH Neil Simon might be good! I wonder if he's considered canonical enough to pass the College Board audit?

Cool article on the changing idea of Romance!

I also think I need a new name for my grotesque category. With Dorian Gray, Metamorphosis, Frankenstein, and Jekyll and Hyde it's something not really grotesque. Something like the anti-industrials!

He says to look at Caryl Churchill (though she's British): Cloud 9, Fenn, etc. He says her works tend to defy categorization and would be great to open that discussion. He also says that if you want some late 20th century absurdist comedy, check out Christopher Durang. ND can fill you in more if you're interested.

OH Neil Simon might be good! I wonder if he's considered canonical enough to pass the College Board audit?

Hmm......Neil Simon might be the right fit. I skew towards non American Lit. Then at least it's more rounded out between early modern to contemporary. Of course I am light on 17th and 18th century works. But oh well. Heavy on Victorian. unsurprisingly.

AND foregoing anything not already modern. I mean, I'm not addressing Greek or even, really (unless I do Gawain), Medieval.

I like your grotesque list.

Brighton Beach Memoirs might be a good fit.

Me too! I loved those books. They aren't gothic. Nor victorian. And I still think grotesque is the wrong word. But I'm not sure what the right word is!

I like grotesque. It's an excellent word.

ETA: Have you considered adding Flannery O'Connor's short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" into your grotesque unit? That would give you another American text.