what works of writing individually and culturally impacted, penetrated ,and defined the culture we are today?

Question

We as a country have changed over the last century, advances in tech, science, ...........in everything. but we have an intangible, maybe gone now. We had heroes, moviestars that entered our homes, our view, politics,....we were americans and as proud as a people can be ....But less tanagable were the writers, the novels, read generations down, or for just one depending on the period.
Tranformed we were by the minds whose words we read. The authors are famous for muliple works, more or less. What pieces of work changed us most, guided us,and left us here, in the now,?

Answer 1

Very very very short list:

JD Salinger Catcher in the Rye - alienation and adulthood
Ernest Hemingway A Farewell to Arms-attitude toward war
Anthony Burgess A Clockwork Orange - religion, psychology, philosophy
Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness - because Apocolypse Now was such a terrific movie!
Fyodor Dostoevsky Notes from the Underground and Crime and Punishment - criminal psychology

Also, although not widely read, Dostoevsky's The Grand Inquisitor. It's said he accurately predicted where we would be right now.

Answer 2

1984

Answer 3

sorry to say this but the simpsons are one of the works that has definetly become engrained into society and our language,i know that doesnt say much about us as people .