Books that are too American

Recently I sent a care package to a German princess mewed in a tower in Spain. She's been keeping her sanity by reading English-language books, so I sent a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction to give her a mental escape route. However, as I came up with this list, I discarded a bunch of my favorite books as "too American" -- they were diverting, well written, but either too US-centric or required a sensitive finger on the American pulse to appreciate.

Only after I'd sent off the box did it strike me that as a set, the list of books that are "too American" was interesting. My patriotism has suffered in the last few years -- a week ago I passed the Statue of Liberty in a boat, and all I could think of was that recently we've really let Her down. But these books, inappropriate for my German Princess, have a uniquely American vitality. Some are nostalgic, some are unapologeticly critical, but they do embody a sense of life (sometimes struggle, sometime joy) that is truly unique. A small glimmer of hope for Liberty.

• Sarah Vowell -- The Partly Cloudy Patriot, Assassination Vacation, Take the Cannoli
• Connie Willis -- Lincoln's Dreams
• Eudora Welty -- in particular "Losing Battles"
• John McPhee -- just about anything
• James Loewen-- Lies My Teacher Told Me
• William Faukner -- As I Lay Dying
• Forrest Carter -- The Education of Little Tree
• Chaim Potok - My Name is Asher Lev
• Jean Craighead George -- My side of the Mountain
• Barbara Ehrenreich -- Nickel and Dimed
• To Kill a Mockingbird -- Harper Lee
• Stephen Dubner Morrow -- Freakonomics
• Susan Jane Gilman -- Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress