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Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951)

Author of Babbitt

110+ Works 20,091 Members 422 Reviews 75 Favorited

About the Author

Harry Sinclair Lewis was born on February 7, 1885 in Minnesota. He was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. A lonely child, Lewis immersed himself in reading and diary writing. show more While studying at Yale University and living in writer Upton Sinclair's communal house, he wrote for Yale Literary Magazine and helped to build the Panama Canal. After graduating from Yale in 1908, Lewis began writing fiction, publishing 22 novels by the end of his career. His early works, while often praised by literary critics, did not reach popularity but with Main Street (1920), Babbitt (1922), Arrowsmith (1925), Elmer Gantry (1927), and Dodsworth (1929), Sinclair Lewis achieved fame as a writer. His style of choice was satire; he explored American small-town life, conformity, hypocrisy, and materialism. Sinclair Lewis was married and divorced twice. As his career wound down, he spent his later life in Europe and died in Rome on January 10, 1951. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Works by Sinclair Lewis

Babbitt (1922) 5,024 copies
Main Street (1920) 4,075 copies
It Can't Happen Here (1935) 3,328 copies
Arrowsmith (1925) 2,075 copies
Elmer Gantry (1927) 1,528 copies
Dodsworth (1929) 603 copies
Kingsblood Royal (1947) 552 copies
Main Street / Babbitt (1992) 439 copies
Cass Timberlane (1945) 419 copies
Ann Vickers (1933) 171 copies
Free Air (1919) 149 copies
The Prodigal Parents (1938) 100 copies
Work of Art (1932) 93 copies
Bethel Merriday (1940) 86 copies
Gideon Planish (1943) 80 copies
The God Seeker (1949) 78 copies
Mantrap (1926) 77 copies
The Job (1917) 74 copies
World So Wide (1950) 72 copies
Our Mr. Wrenn (1914) 70 copies
The Man Who Knew Coolidge (1928) 39 copies
The Trail of the Hawk (1915) 37 copies
Elmer Gantry [1960 film] (1960) — Novel — 35 copies
The Days of the King (1924) — Preface — 26 copies
Storm in the West (1963) 10 copies
Stories (1981) 8 copies
Hike and the Aeroplane (1912) 7 copies
Let's Play King (1935) 5 copies
The Ghost Patrol (1946) 5 copies
Main Street [annotated] (2019) 4 copies
The Willow Walk (1989) 4 copies
The Best is Yet to Be (1994) 3 copies
Minnesota Diary, 1942-46 (2000) 3 copies
Stories of Sinclair Lewis (1981) 2 copies
Opere 2 copies
Young Man Axelbrod (2014) 2 copies
Walt Disney's Bongo (a Big Golden book) (1947) — Original story — 2 copies
oil 1 copy
Moths in the Arc Light (2014) 1 copy
[no title] 1 copy
Dragon's Teeth (1977) 1 copy
The Post-Mortem Murder (1921) 1 copy

Associated Works

The Old Man and the Sea (1950) — Introduction, some editions — 30,525 copies
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) — Introduction, some editions — 18,870 copies
Short Story Masterpieces (1954) — Contributor — 675 copies
A Subtreasury of American Humor (1941) — Contributor — 276 copies
The Penguin Book of Gaslight Crime (2009) — Contributor — 180 copies
Twenty Grand Short Stories (1967) — Contributor — 157 copies
The Norton Book of Travel (1987) — Contributor — 110 copies
Fun and Fancy Free [1947 film] (1947) — Original story — 108 copies
The Best American Humorous Short Stories (1945) — Contributor — 82 copies
Great Stories by Nobel Prize Winners (1959) — Contributor — 76 copies
The Fantastic Pulps (1975) — Contributor — 70 copies
The Arbor House Treasury of Mystery and Suspense (1981) — Contributor — 52 copies
The Lucifer Society (1971) — Contributor — 41 copies
An American Omnibus (1933) — Contributor — 31 copies
Dodsworth [1936 film] (1936) — Original story — 28 copies
Rogues' Gallery: The Great Criminals of Modern Fiction (1945) — Contributor — 27 copies
The Panorama of Modern Literature (1934) — Contributor — 14 copies
Nobel Writers on Writing (2000) — Contributor — 14 copies
New Stories for Men (1941) — Contributor — 13 copies
Arrowsmith [1931 film] (1931) — Original novel — 10 copies
Los Premios Pulitzer de novela (I) (1970) — Contributor — 8 copies
The Three Readers (1943) — Editor, some editions — 5 copies
The Fireside Treasury of Modern Humor (1963) — Contributor — 5 copies
Famous Stories of Five Centuries (1934) — Contributor — 4 copies
30 Eternal Masterpieces of Humorous Stories (2017) — Contributor — 4 copies
American Short Stories (1978) — Contributor — 3 copies
Bongo [1947 short film] (1947) — Original story — 2 copies
A Reader for Writers — Contributor — 2 copies
7 Novel Dystopian Collection — Contributor — 1 copy
Modern American short stories (1963) — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

1001 (209) 1001 books (230) 20th century (867) America (163) American (839) American fiction (274) American literature (1,844) anthology (229) classic (1,526) classic fiction (159) classic literature (231) classics (1,630) Cuba (357) ebook (195) Ernest Hemingway (183) fiction (7,739) fishing (366) Hemingway (471) historical fiction (197) humor (172) Kindle (186) literature (1,684) Nobel Prize (338) novel (1,393) novella (171) own (225) paperback (157) politics (156) Pulitzer Prize (262) read (632) Roman (238) satire (397) short stories (342) Sinclair Lewis (265) Spain (376) Spanish Civil War (467) to-read (2,627) unread (310) USA (308) war (369)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Lewis, Sinclair
Legal name
Lewis, Harry Sinclair
Other names
Lewis, Red
Graham, Tom
Birthdate
1885-02-07
Date of death
1951-01-10
Burial location
Greenwood Cemetery, Sauk Centre, Minnesota, USA
Gender
male
Nationality
USA
Country (for map)
USA
Birthplace
Sauk Centre, Minnesota, USA
Place of death
Rome, Italy
Cause of death
advanced alcoholism
Places of residence
Sauk Centre, Minnesota, USA
Helicon Home Colony, Englewood, New Jersey, USA
Carmel, California, USA
Washington, D.C., USA
New York, New York, USA
Rome, Italy (show all 9)
Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Thorvale Farm, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA
Barnard, Vermont, USA
Education
Oberlin Academy
Yale University (AB|1908)
Occupations
novelist
short-story writer
playwright
sold fiction plots to novelist Jack London
ghostwriter
editor (show all 12)
reporter
advertising manager
actor
secretary
janitor
columnist
Relationships
Thompson, Dorothy (wife|divorced)
Lewis, Grace Hegger (wife|divorced)
Lewis, J. P. Sinclair (grandson)
Wharton, Edith (friend)
Acheson, Dean (friend)
Shirer, William L. (friend) (show all 8)
Kruif, Paul de (friend)
Jordan, Elizabeth Garver (editor)
Organizations
American Academy of Arts and Letters (Literature ∙ 1935)
National Institute of Arts and Letters (vice president)
Helicon Home Colony, Englewood, New Jersey
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California writers' colony
Transatlantic Tales, New York, New York (assistant editor)
Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa (reporter) (show all 14)
Associated Press, San Francisco (staff writer)
Volta Review, Washington, D.C. (staff member)
Frederick A. Stokes (publisher), New York, New York (manuscript reader)
Adventure, New York, New York (assistant editor)
Publisher's Newspaper Syndicate, New York, NY (editor)
George H. Doran (publisher), New York, NY (editorial assistant, advertising manager, and full-time writer)
Newsweek (columnist)
Esquire (columnist)
Awards and honors
Nobel Prize (Literature ∙ 1930)
First American to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature
National Institute of Arts and Letters (vice president)
American Academy of Arts and Letters (1935)
Litt.D., Yale University
U.S. Postal Service stamp
Agent
Edith Haggard

Members

Reviews

Like so many others, I read this in high school. I read it again in college. Both times I adored the story, and it led to Sinclair Lewis becoming a favorite author. [b:Elmer Gantry|11378|Elmer Gantry|Sinclair Lewis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386925217l/11378._SX50_.jpg|13842] and [b:It Can't Happen Here|11371|It Can't Happen Here|Sinclair Lewis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1670180451l/11371._SY75_.jpg|1296784] played roles in shaping my religious and political views.

Oddly, I remembered none of this book as I read it for a third time. It was far more boring than I thought it would be. Things I expected were not present. I think that some memories come from [b:A Doll's House|37793|A Doll's House|Henrik Ibsen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1660268136l/37793._SY75_.jpg|10535173], but I'm not sure. Given that my memory of the book and play stretches back more than forty years, it's inevitable that some memories will meld or change.

Main Street is well written. Lewis is a master at building and then tearing down characters with satire. (Sometimes he bats you about the face with it.) However, I think he's a better writer when he's criticizing society outright. So, I was a bit disappointed. I think his immaturity as a writer is displayed quite prominently when [b:Main Street|11376|Main Street|Sinclair Lewis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308953459l/11376._SY75_.jpg|18537748] is placed next to other books like [b:Arrowsmith|11389|Arrowsmith|Sinclair Lewis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328006651l/11389._SY75_.jpg|1446230].

But, these are my foibles as an older person. I've noticed lately that I don't have the patience for young writers that I used to have. So, the rating stays the same as I gave it when I was in my teens and in my 20s.
… (more)
 
Flagged
rabbit-stew | 74 other reviews | Dec 31, 2023 |
He def wanted to elope to Maine w/ Paulibus.
 
Flagged
k6gst | 95 other reviews | Dec 27, 2023 |
An interesting alternate history dystopia in which the US turns into a fascist dictatorship in response to the Depression.
 
Flagged
JBarringer | 86 other reviews | Dec 15, 2023 |
Sinclair Lewis was an atheist. He used this book as satire against the Christian church. All of the characters are either narcissistic manipulators or naive buffoons who are easily manipulated. However I enjoyed the book. Even though it was written in 1927, the message is just as relevant today. It is an interesting study on how easily people can be fooled and mislead. It vividly illustrates what the Bible means by "a wolf in sheep's clothing." The title character, Elmer Gantry, reminded me of the television preachers of today.… (more)
 
Flagged
galoma | 43 other reviews | Dec 11, 2023 |

Lists

1920s (4)
Actors (1)
AP Lit (2)

Awards

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Associated Authors

John Alton Director of Photography
Bernard Smith Producer
Adolf von Menzel Illustrator
Knut Hamsun Contributor
Hermann Hesse Contributor
Mark Schorer Afterword, Introduction
Ernest Hemingway Contributor
Bruce Barton Contributor
Giovanni Papini Contributor
Kenneth Krauss Introduction
Neli Dospevska Translator
Daisy Bródy Translator
Thomas Mallon Introduction
Hans Meisel Translator
Perry Meisel Introduction
Jay Richard Kennedy Introduction
E. L. Doctorow Afterword
Hendrik Vitsur Kujundaja.
Gabriel DES HONS Translator
Barbara Grace Spayd Introduction
Aloys Skoumal Translator
Sally E. Parry Introduction
Ben F. Stahl Illustrator
Anthony Heald Narrator
R.D. Scudellari Cover designer
Edouard de Nève Translator

Statistics

Works
110
Also by
45
Members
20,091
Popularity
#1,079
Rating
3.8
Reviews
422
ISBNs
917
Languages
21
Favorited
75

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