Sinclair Lewis
1) Babbitt
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
Prosperous and socially prominent, George Babbitt appears to have everything a man could wish. But when a personal crisis forces the middle-aged real estate agent to reexamine his life, Babbitt mounts a rebellion that jeopardizes everything he values. Widely considered Sinclair Lewis' greatest novel, this satire of the American social landscape created a sensation upon its 1922 publication. Babbitt's name became an instant and enduring synonym for...
2) Main Street
Author
Series
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Formats
Description
Describes the lonely predicament of Carol Kennicott, who is caught between her desires for social reform and individual happiness. Her dilemma is intensified by the fact that she lives in a small, self-satisfied, Midwestern town.
3) Arrowsmith
Author
Series
Signet books
Harbrace modern classics
Signet classic volume CE2225
Signet classic volume CE 2691
More Series...
Harbrace modern classics
Signet classic volume CE2225
Signet classic volume CE 2691
More Series...
Language
English
Description
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel recounts the story of a Midwestern physician who is forced to give up his profession due to the ignorance, corruption, and greed of society.
Author
Series
Signet books Signet novels volume Q4412
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
A cautionary tale about the rise of fascism in the United States first published in 1935. During the presidential election of 1936, Doremus Jessup, a newspaper editor, observes with dismay that many of the people he knows support the candidacy of a fascist, Berzelius Windrip. When Windrip wins the election, he forcibly gains control of Congress and the Supreme Court, and, with the aid of his personal paramilitary storm troopers, turns the United States...
5) Free Air
Author
Series
Language
English
Formats
Description
Bored of the parties and luxuries that come with her socialite lifestyle, Claire Boltwood longs for something more authentic in her life. Desperate for adventure, Claire and her father decide to travel from New York City to the Pacific Northwest in their automobile, a new privilege enjoyed by the rich. Though he is a clever businessman, Claire's father knows nothing about cars, so he encourages Claire to drive, challenging the gender stereotypes of...
7) The Job
Author
Language
English
Description
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...
8) Dodsworth
Author
Series
Signet classic volume CE2598
Language
English
Formats
Description
"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 sake...
Author
Series
Library of America volume 59
Language
English
Description
In Main Street and Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis drew on his boyhood memories of Sauk Centre, Minnesota, to reveal as no writer had done before the complacency and conformity of middle-class life in America. These remarkable novels combine brilliant satire with a lingering affection for the men and women who, as Lewis wrote of Babbitt, want "to seize something more than motor cars and a house before it's too late."
Main Street (1920), Lewis's first triumph,...
16) Elmer Gantry
Language
English
Description
One man's fervent pursuit of wealth and power leads him to religion for profit in the evangelist tents of the 1920's Midwestern Corn Belt.
17) Arrowsmith
Series
Language
English
Description
Happily married country doctor Martin Arrowsmith leaves his small practice for the prospects of wealth and important medical research at New York City's esteemed McGurk Institute and finds himself faced with an intense workload, a romance-minded socialite, and a plague outbreak.
18) Dodsworth
Series
Language
English
Description
"Sam Dodsworth is a small town rags-to-riches millionaire who finds that his money cannot bring him happiness. His unsatisfied wife Fran, seeking glamour and sophistication, persuades him to take her on a grand tour of Europe, where she promptly deserts him for a romantic but penniless baron. Brokenhearted, Sam meets Edith, a widow who arouses passions he never thought he had and sets him on a collision course with his wife, unleashing a torrent of...
20) Arrowsmith
Language
English
Description
The compelling story of a man torn between two sets of values. An idealistic small town doctor relocates to the West Indies hoping to end the bubonic-plague epidemic there. This sets off a tragic series of events that forces him to come to terms with his career and personal life.