This is an interesting list, but it’s different from the usual old dead white guy canon in that it’s all Americans. USA! Dostoevsky, Camus, Kafka, Conrad, and James Joyce are definitely not Americans. Neither are the Brontes, but they’re not men either. Most of the old literary canon are Brits. I’ve never seen a white American male canon of essential books, and I guess I’m unlikely to. But that’s okay because sometimes I like to read books about people who are different than me. Make that most of the time.