Can you name some possible candidates for the 'first black American novel'?

One strong candidate is 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' by Edgar Allan Poe.

One possible candidate for the first vampire novel is 'The Vampyre' by John Polidori. It was an early work that presented the vampire figure in a more complex way compared to previous mentions in literature.

One possible candidate for the first fantasy novel could be 'The Epic of Gilgamesh'. It has elements of the supernatural like the gods and monsters. Another might be 'The Odyssey' which has mythical creatures and magic.

Some people might think that 'The Game - World Chronicles' could be among the first. It had in - depth character building based on game - like mechanics, such as attribute points and skill trees. But again, the definition of the first litrpg novel can be a bit hazy as different works had different degrees of the key litrpg elements.

Well, 'All Quiet on the Western Front' by Erich Maria Remarque is also a strong contender. It showed the brutal and senseless nature of World War I in a very modern way. It focused on the soldiers' experiences, their disillusionment, and the horror of war, which was a departure from previous war literature.

One possible candidate could be 'Tristram Shandy' by Laurence Sterne. It has elements that seem self - aware, like the narrator constantly interrupting the story to comment on the act of storytelling itself.

Well, 'The City and the Pillar' by Gore Vidal is often considered among the early works that had elements of gay romance. It was quite controversial when it was first published in 1948. It explored the life of a man and his same - sex relationships, and was a significant step in the representation of gay themes in American literature.

Definitely Mark Twain's 'Tom Sawyer' is often thought of as a prime candidate. The time period when Twain was writing coincided with the increasing popularity of the typewriter. He was an adventurous writer in many ways, and using the typewriter was just one of his forays into new territory. While we can't be 100% certain, it's a very likely candidate. There may have been other lesser - known authors trying out the typewriter for their novels around the same time, but without as much historical documentation.

Maybe 'War and Peace' by Leo Tolstoy could be considered in a way. Although it's more complex and not strictly only anti - war, it does show the futility and destruction of war among other things.

One possible candidate could be 'The Golden Ass' by Apuleius. It is an ancient Roman novel that has many complex elements. Another might be some of the early Chinese novels like 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' if we consider different literary traditions around the world as part of this idea.