Finalists …

… The Great American Novelist tournament: the final 32 | Books | guardian.co.uk. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Right off the top of my head I can think of three living American novelists who easily as good as some of these — John Nichols, Larry Watson, and Oliver Lange. Of earlier writers, I would have included John P. Marquand and Conrad Richter. And William S. Burroughs, but not Jack Kerouac or Henry Miller? And yes, Raymond Chandler belongs there, too.