A Thought on American Literature

I have recently finished The Coming of Conan, a collection of Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E. Howard. I began the series with the desire to kill a few hours, but was quickly drawn in to the overarching story and well written characters and plot points. Having been addicted through this initial reading I was struck that in the realm of literature that which I love, H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, and Tom Clancy are all distinctly American. When I hear rantings about how American literature has provided nothing to culture, and how we are decaying as a culture, I simply look at the immense contributions provided by those mentioned above, combined with Ayn Rand and the classic American authors to believe that we as a people have and are increasing and deepening culture from a literary viewpoint.