Contra Jane Clark Scharl, I think <i>J R</i> by William Gaddis can count as a great American epic, if we relax the "verse" requirement a bit for modernity, while recognizing that literally none of <i>J R</i> is conventional prose. Almost all of it is very naturalistic dialogue, occasionally interspersed with ethereal and mysterious ("poetic") scene descriptions / transitions.<p>I like Gaddis's other work, but <i>J R</i> has the best ear for the ways Americans talk, and it's certainly the most American story ever told.
Unfortunately that title is already reserved in the US for Homer Simpson.
Mark Twain is America's Homer<p>One aspect of Huckleberry Finn (the novel) that I think is relevant today is the spectacularly stupid zero-sum conflict between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons. It seems relevant to the US's politics and many international conflicts
Solid read.<p>Recommendations elaborated on in the article are a solid set. Mark Twain or Walt Whitman would probably get my vote.
this is not super productive, but not including “Germany has Goethe” in the opening line turned me off immediately