Harold Bloom's 6 favorite books that helped shape "the American Sublime"

Harold Bloom's many books include The Daemon Knows, which celebrates twelve writers whose works shaped what he calls the American Sublime. One of the author's six favorite books that helped shape "the American Sublime," as shared at The Week magazine:

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Hester Prynne remains the grandest, most poignant, and most enduring female character in American literature. She is our truest feminist in that she will not yield to the Puritan morality that condemns her and her heroic sexuality.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Scarlet Letter is among Gabe Habash's ten biggest book-to-film flops, Sara Maitland's top ten books of the forest, Susan Cheever's six favorite Massachusetts books, John Mullan's ten of the best reformations in literature, and Paul Auster's five most important books.

--Marshal Zeringue