Sinclair Lewis

Arrowsmith tells the story of bright and scientifically minded Martin Arrowsmith of Elk Mills, Winnemac (the same fictional state in which several of Lewis's other novels are set), as he makes his way from a small town in the Midwest to the upper echelons of the scientific community at a prestigious foundation in New York City. Along the way he begins medical school. He becomes engaged to one woman, cheats on her with another woman, becomes engaged...

Businessman George F. Babbitt loves the latest appliances, brand names, and the Republican Party. In fact, he loves being a solid citizen even more than he loves his wife. But Babbitt comes to resent the middle-class trappings he has worked so hard to acquire. Realizing that his life is devoid of meaning, he grows determined to transcend his trivial existence and search for greater purpose. Babbitt's quest for meaning forces him to ponder what it...

After a family member tragically falls ill, Una Golden was forced to move from Pennsylvania to New York in order to get a job to help support her family. Set in the early 1900s, going to the big city as a single woman was daunting and unconventional, but Una is dedicated to helping her family. After diligently job searching and excelling in additional training and education, Una discovers that she has the skills to be a talented commercial real estate...

Born into the first generation of an immigrant family from Norway, Carl Ericson was always bound to have differing philosophies than his parents. However, when these new, freethinking ideas result in an expulsion from college, Carl must find a way to fit in with the society's culture and values without stifling his independence. However, Carl has a difficult time achieving this in the rigid workplace standards of the 20th-century. He becomes a vagabond...

Meet Sam Dodsworth, an amiable fifty-year-old millionaire and “American Captain of Industry, believing in the Republican Party, high tariffs, and, so long as they did not annoy him personally, in Prohibition and the Episcopal Church.” Dodsworth runs an auto manufacturing firm, but his beautiful wife Fran, obsessed with the notion that she is growing old, persuades him to sell his interest in the company and take her to Europe. He agrees for the...

A blockbuster success when it was first released in 1927, Sinclair Lewis' "Elmer Gantry" tells the story of a self-absorbed, narcissistic young drifter who - seeking easy money - is drawn into the world of Evangelism and manages to become a successful minister despite his serial sexual indiscretions. Upon its publication, this satire of religious hypocrisy in America was denounced in pulpits from coast-to-coast and the book was banned and vilified...

Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 - January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters." He is best known for his novels Main Street (1920), Babbitt (1922), Arrowsmith...

The Job is an early work by American novelist Sinclair Lewis. It is considered an early declaration of the rights of working women. The focus is on the main character, Una Golden, and her desire to establish herself in a legitimate occupation while balancing the eventual need for marriage. The story takes place in the early 1900-1920s and takes Una from a small Pennsylvania town to New York. Forced to work due to family illness, Una shows a talent...

A burned-out New York lawyer's vacation in the Canadian wilderness takes a troubled detour in this novel by the Nobel Prize—winning author of Main Street. Lawyer Frank Prescott is exhausted. The forty-year-old bachelor works late into the night, poring over documents. When he sleeps, he wakes up in a panic. Not even a round of golf at his country club or a Broadway show helps calm him down. He just wants to escape the city and feel as though he...

The Appleby's are happy couple. Often referring to the other as "father" or "mother", the couple have remained as affectionate and passionate as newlyweds, and both are energetic despite their old age. Though they feel young and full of life, their adult daughter, with whom they share a difficult relationship with, and the rest of society, hardly agrees. It is suggested that the couple consider retiring and moving to an assisted living facility. Disenfranchised...