THE BEST AMERICAN BOOK OF THE 20TH CENTURY

THE BEST AMERICAN BOOK OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Consists of

the first sentence of the first best-selling book of 1900, as listed*;
the second sentence of the second best-selling book of 1900, as listed;
the third sentence of the third best-selling book of 1900, as listed;
the fourth sentence of the fourth best-selling book of 1900, as listed;
the fifth sentence of the fifth best-selling book of 1900, as listed;
the sixth sentence of the sixth best-selling book of 1900, as listed;
the seventh sentence of the seventh best-selling book of 1900, as
listed;
the eight sentence of the eight best-selling book of 1900, as listed;
the ninth sentence of the ninth best-selling book of 1900, as listed;
the tenth sentence of the tenth best-selling book of 1900, as listed;
the eleventh sentence of the first best-selling book of 1901, as listed;
and so on up to the end of the century, to the thousandth sentence of the tenth best-selling book of 1999.

Each sentence is footnoted with its reference.
Ten sentences form one paragraph, representing one year.
Ten paragraphs form one chapter, representing one decade.
The book represents a century: the American Century.

In constructing ‘The Best American Book of the 20th Century’, artist cooperative Société Réaliste replaces the proper nouns by pronouns. This slightly enhances the original text and enables a selected overview of the history of Best American Fiction in one condensed, ambitious novel.