Wallace Earle Stegner was an American historian, novelist, short story writer, and environmentalist. Some call him "The Dean of Western Writers." He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Book Award in 1977.
This is a good introduction to the American novel. Even if it is way way too short, but it still gives a general idea about what to expect from a writer such as Faulkner