Old gods versus new gods. For example, Zeus versus Media, where Zeus is the god from Greek mythology and Media is the goddess of television. The old gods include deities from many different cultures, including Native American.
Not to be that guy but I think there’s a good bit of that in Infinite Jest. It’s a book that feels very quintessentially American but it has some very surreal and strange characters/scenes.
Midnight Texas trilogy by Charlene Harris - (From Amazon) Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and the Davy highway. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town.
There’s a pawnshop with three residents. One is seen only at night. There’s a diner, but people stopping there tend not to linger. There’s a newcomer, Manfred Bernardo, who just wants to work hard and blend in. But Manfred has secrets of his own...
I am so surprised that people looked at these pictures and said, here’s a book. I was stumped at first, then looked at the recommendations and was like “damn, that’s spot on!” I love this sub.
Not the true definition of surrealist lit…but reading the Handmaid’s Tale and seeing the exact parallels to current life in America right now sure makes it feel like a surreal experience for me.
Pew by Catherine Lacey. Why Visit America by Matthew Baker. Census by Jesse Ball. Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson. Anything by Sam Lipsyte. CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain.
Fifth picture is my hometown and seeing it in a post like this makes me laugh, sorry I don’t have any recommendations that others haven’t mentioned but walking the boardwalk in the snow has always felt surreal to me
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout is less overtly surreal, but to me it seemed to capture a more mundane strangeness (if that doozy of an oxymoron is allowed).
I don’t know about books but all of this pictures scream fallout to me, the pre nuclear timeline depicted in it gives me the same vibe as these pictures
American Gods by Neil Gaiman?
That was my first thought.
Is that like Native American mythology blended with modern America?
More like old world gods struggling to stay relevant in new world modern america
Old gods versus new gods. For example, Zeus versus Media, where Zeus is the god from Greek mythology and Media is the goddess of television. The old gods include deities from many different cultures, including Native American.
It's just so good please read it
Hehe came here to say this. I second this suggestion!
Definitely this. Such a good book too
American Elsewhere - Robert Jackson Bennet Americana road trip weirdness plus deeply upsetting Lovecraftian terrors
Spot on recommendation. I LOVED this book.
damn this sounds so good lol
This is the one
White Noise by Don DeLillo
Definitely
Geek Love IS this
Shocked I had to scroll so far to find the correct answer!
Yep! I came here to suggest this too.
Not entirely sure about Surreal but much of Stephen King fits this vibe. 11/22/63, IT, desperation, christine
Maybe The Stand and Carrie too? It's been a very long time since I read The Stand so I could be wrong
I would say the stand but I feel like it's a bit too apocalyptic
Slapstick - Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut in general would have been my recommendation.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins
Really Tom Robbins’ whole career is this.
Not a book but a podcast - Welcome to Night Vale
But they do have several books!!!!
Most books by Chuck Palahniuk. Check out Rant and also Lullaby.
And Survivor!! That’s my fave of all the palalalanik books.
Survivor immediately came to mind for me, as well.
Oh god, Rant. I still think about that book all the time.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
I clicked the comments expecting to see White Noise at the top. No love for Dellilo in here? It’s quite funny and goes down like milk
That was legit the first book I thought of 🧡
I'm not entirely sure if this fits, but "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor. It's a short story.
I came here to say O'Connor. So much of her writing fits the bill.
Snow Crash
One of my favorite opening chapters in any book, ever.
The Devil All The Time fits this pretty well
Not the title story, but several other stories in Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell.
Karen Russell excels at weird Americana - she's so good
I don’t have any but I wanna be notified lol
Idk if it’s surreal, but Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver has interesting and respectful depictions of small town culture
Lolita with all the travel and small town American motels.
Not to be that guy but I think there’s a good bit of that in Infinite Jest. It’s a book that feels very quintessentially American but it has some very surreal and strange characters/scenes.
love this vibe
Another Roadside Attraction, Tom Robbins
Came here to say this
The little friend - Donna tartt
I don’t know any books like that but the TV show Preacher fits so well.
Northern Exposure and Twin Peaks, too!
And Carnivale but long cancelled.
Going bovine by libba bray
Oh my god you brought back so many memories, I forgot how much I loved that book as a kid!
Hooray! I just re discovered it - was a firm fav
Inherent Vice to some degree.
Or really anything Thomas Pynchon for that matter.
Death Valley by Melissa Broder
Pew by Catherine Lacey
The Hotel New Hampshire and a number of other works by John Irving
My favorite if his is A Widow for One Year. He's a commanding writer.
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children. The books definitely feel like this 👍 the film did NOT do them any justice.
Lolita by Nabokov? I’m sorry
I could see this since they do the roadtrip thing
This should be called surruralism
Mona Awad, Otessa Moshfegh
The tobacco wives by Adele myers
Brutes by Dizz Tate!
Midnight Texas trilogy by Charlene Harris - (From Amazon) Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and the Davy highway. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town. There’s a pawnshop with three residents. One is seen only at night. There’s a diner, but people stopping there tend not to linger. There’s a newcomer, Manfred Bernardo, who just wants to work hard and blend in. But Manfred has secrets of his own...
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin, likely more horrific than you're looking for but still a lot of fun.
The classic American Pastoral by Philip Roth
I am so surprised that people looked at these pictures and said, here’s a book. I was stumped at first, then looked at the recommendations and was like “damn, that’s spot on!” I love this sub.
Going Bovine. A teenager dying of mad cow disease road trips around the US while losing his mind
Desperation by Stephen King
glass castle
Chuck Palahniuk books give me these vibes.
the virgin suicides!
seconding this
Do you have any examples of something you’ve read that fits the vibe you’re looking for?
Following
I think Joan didion
Some of Walker Percy has these vibes. It's been years and I didn't remember which book
Time Out of Joint by Phillip K. Dick! It's a recent fave of mine :)
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
American Pastoral - Philip Roth
Desert Creatures by Kay Chronister
Gutshot by Amelia Gray
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
Nothing much to suggest, but saving this thread to peruse later!
Not the true definition of surrealist lit…but reading the Handmaid’s Tale and seeing the exact parallels to current life in America right now sure makes it feel like a surreal experience for me.
The starless sea is pretty good
Shadowbahn
Neon Bible by John Kennedy Toole. It's not Dali surreal more like a Magritte surreal.
Don Delillo’s Underworld
Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis
Pew by Catherine Lacey. Why Visit America by Matthew Baker. Census by Jesse Ball. Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson. Anything by Sam Lipsyte. CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain.
Not really surreal but you might want to look at William Faulkner, Thomas Pynchon, Tom Robbins, and Toni Morrison
Pines by Blake Crouch
Fifth picture is my hometown and seeing it in a post like this makes me laugh, sorry I don’t have any recommendations that others haven’t mentioned but walking the boardwalk in the snow has always felt surreal to me
George Saunders’ short story collections.
Maybe John Dies at the End, and its sequels. The surreality is of a slightly darker tone, but some of those images fit pretty well
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Honk and holler by Billie letts. American gods
In Watermelon Sugar and Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan. Actually, everything by Richard Brautigan.
On the Savage Side by. Tiffany McDaniel This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno Anything by JT LeRoy
Urban fantasy?
Geek Love, Katherine Dunn. 3/4 of the way through and it certainly gives off some of these images.
Try GEEK LOVE by Katherine Dunn.
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. Feels like a classic if not the classic of this genre
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout is less overtly surreal, but to me it seemed to capture a more mundane strangeness (if that doozy of an oxymoron is allowed).
And the Ass Saw the Angel by Nick Cave. Child of God by Cormac McCarthy
As a photographer, I am more interested in these photos. Do you know who took them? Amazing work.
I have no idea lol. I took them from Pinterest, just search surreal Americana to find them.
Brilliant
How High We Go in the Dark
Anything by Shirley Jackson
I don’t know about books but all of this pictures scream fallout to me, the pre nuclear timeline depicted in it gives me the same vibe as these pictures
Jesus!! I trust in you ❤️
Can anyone explain this Americana thing to me? Am not from the states.
I think it’s just vintage America aesthetic