alt Hacker NewsTwain is a good choice, but he also works against the mythology of America. His whole thing was popping bubbles and making grounded stories that work against the backdrop of Americana.
Tracy Chapman is a pretty trolly answer, but I suspect the real answer might very well be a musician or filmmaker, not a writer.
Replies
> the real answer might very well be a musician or filmmaker, not a writer.
Walter Disney, obviously.
Well, it will probably take at least another century for the fact to hit.
Are you sure that works against the mythology of America?
Questioning authority and mythology is very American.
Hmm
Wheres the evidence that Homer work ed for the mythology of Dark Age Greece?
If you say its his popularity..
(I would cite the Cyclics as counter evidence)
For filmmaker: itd have to be someone whom you can imagine (unironically) reconstructing Adams or other actual American heroes
So..
Tom Hanks
Film (and television) seems studiously underrepresented given the presence of authors, playwrights, poets, and musicians. Musicals are also absent.
I'd also suggest that cultural impact plays a strong part in Homer's prominence. The American Homer would probably be older rather than more recent (at least by present reckoning).
Francis Ford Coppola / Mario Puzo, The Godfather; Michael Curtiz, Casablanca; Steven Speilberg; Orson Welles, Citizen Kane; Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, etc., might make my list.