What decade do you think had the best literature?

I think decade narrows it too much. My favorite books were written all over the map. The 18th century writers changed reality as we know it but as far as prose you've got to give a nod to Hemingway for removing the bullsh*t. Tolstoy and Tolkien gave us worlds to ponder for the rest of our lives, while Melville & London put our dreams of adventure into words. I wonder today, if anyone will pick up and read "The Curious Case of Mr. Buttons" or "As I Lay Dying" or will they settle for Brad Pitt?

I agree with Ginsberg up there that the Beat window of the 40's thu 70's was astronomical, though very few discover it. We're too obsessed with greed now. My friends will read "Free Lunch" before "Naked Lunch" and our increasingly oppressive society probably won't allow them past the first description of gay sex.

Lately, Annie Proulx & Cormac McCarthy wowed me. Proulx comes up with those damn associations you just can't get anywhere else, anti-cliche!

Its fair to say even that popular contemps like King and Rowling also deserve a look.

Sorry for the long non-answer but here at work I'm surrounded by people who say they "don't read".

1940s.

I will list some of the best books published during that decade to show why...

1984 by George Orwell

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The Fall of Mussolini His Own Story by Benito Mussolini

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

For American literature, I say the 1920's. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Sinclair Lewis.

Ah, that's a hard one...I can't choose one, though I will say the period of 1940-1970 was mighty nice. Peace.

1910s (K.A.F.K.A.), followed by the '60s and then this decade.