American realistic literature has two characteristics: one is dissatisfaction with the status quo, and the other is sympathy for the lower class.
There are many works by American realistic writers, such as James's Portrait of a Lady (188 1), Wharton's Happy House (1905), Sinclair's Slaughterhouse (1906) and Norris's Octopus. Mark Twain, Jack London and O Henry are three famous writers who raised American literature to the European level after Whitman and Mrs. Stowe.