6 Influential Books to be Thankful for

Stowe’s 1852 groundbreaking novel did so much more than depict the coarse realities of antebellum, slave-owning America — it incited and propelled a growing discourse on the nature of slavery, and on its eradication. Stowe’s novel was the top-selling of the entire 19th century; the sentimental nature of the novel so effectively personalized anti-slavery arguments and the abolitionary movement that many historians credit it for sparking the start of the American Civil War. According to popular, albeit apocryphal, legend, Abe Lincoln once referred to Stowe as “the little lady who started this great war.” You go, girl.

Lawrence’s 1928 novel told the story of a sexual affair between a wealthy (and married!) lady of leisure and a working class man. Although adultery has been a running theme in literature since… forever, some of Lawrence’s word choices (particularly his use of those beginning with the letters “f” and “c”) were met with much contention by his contemporaries — so much so that an unabridged, uncensored edition was not available until Penguin dared to publish it in 1960. Via the Obscene Publication Act of 1959, Penguin was brought to trial, only later to be declared not guilty. The publication of the inexpurgated edition is still widely regarded as hallmark to the momentum of the sexual revolution.

First published in 1931, in the midst of the Great Depression and just one year after her husband’s suicide, Rombaeur’s cookbook was a project in restoration and renewal. According to Christopher Kimball, “few cookbook authors have managed to perfectly capture, without artifice or self-conscious chatter, the vernacular of an age. Irma Rombauer introduced us to a room in our home — the kitchen — that was to become a place of enjoyment, not just one of backbreaking labor. She represented the essence of the new American experience, which suggested that everything in life could be transformed into pleasure with nothing more than the proper attitude.” Today Joy is widely referred to as ‘the Bible of cookbooks,’ and is credited with playing a major role in defining American cuisine and in making cooking fun again.

Frank’s diary, penned during her two years spent in hiding in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, is much more than a historical document. Published just two years after the writer’s death at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, the diary provides remarkable insights into the nature of human destructiveness, divine love, and courage. In 1999, Time magazine included Frank in their list of the most important people of the century stating simply: “With a diary kept in a secret attic, she braved the Nazis and lent a searing voice to the fight for human dignity.”

Sinclair’s infamous muckraking novel of 1906 launched a public outcry against the unsanitary practices of the American meat processing industry. Though Sinclair’s actual intention in writing the novel was to shed light on the immigrant working class and the heavy hand of industrial capitalism, his Socialist undertones were largely ignored; as he himself later commented, “I aimed at the public’s heart and by accident hit its stomach.” The stomach-churning elements of the novel were influential enough to propel the much-needed Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which, among other things, is credited for paving the way for the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. A very important thing.