The outcry from African-American novelists was so intense that a collection of essays, "William Styron's Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond" was published a year later.

CNN: Why 'Django Unchained' stirs race debate

Yet within less than a year, two established American novelists have drawn harrowing portraits of a post-apocalyptic America, across which their characters trudge in desperation to find a safer, healthier haven.

ECONOMIST: New fiction

It was a fortunate time for American audiences, with great entertainers, gifted songwriters and novelists such as Ernest Hemingway who were breaking new ground.

ECONOMIST: Bob Hope