I have to disagree. Literature is a tale that deals with the human condition, thus is not generational, unlike Harry Potter. Literature takes the protagonist from point A and changes him so he is different at point B. Check out Poe's Single Effect. America has literature, but it has been covered up by mountains of pulp fiction. As Barden said, Jack London, Hemmingway, Poe, all of these men were authors of literature. Granted, countries in Europe do have more literature than North America, but we have literature too.