New Releases by Sinclair Lewis

"Main Street" by Sinclair Lewis is a novel that explores the life of Carol Milford, a young and idealistic woman who marries Dr. Will Kennicott and moves to his hometown of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota. The story begins with Carol's journey from St. Paul to Gopher Prairie, where she is initially excited about the prospect of transforming the small town into a place of beauty and culture. However, upon arrival, she is disillusioned by the town's drabness and the complacency of its residents. Despite her initial enthusiasm, Carol struggles to adapt to the provincial life and the conservative mindset of the townspeople. She finds herself at odds with the community's resistance to change and their lack of appreciation for her efforts to introduce new ideas and improvements. Throughout the novel, Carol's journey is one of self-discovery and a quest for meaning in a world that often seems resistant to progress. Her interactions with the townspeople, including her husband, reveal the complexities of small-town life and the challenges of balancing personal aspirations with societal expectations. As Carol navigates her new life, she grapples with themes of individuality, conformity, and the pursuit of happiness. "Main Street" is a poignant exploration of the American small-town experience and the struggle to find one's place within it.

Elmer Gantry isn’t suited to be a lawyer, so he becomes a preacher instead. Although he experiences a variety of failures, and even more successes, Gantry ultimately finds this new career path suits him very well indeed—despite his drinking and womanizing. Throughout his time as a preacher Gantry progresses through the hierarchies of the Baptist and Methodist churches, dabbles in revivalism and “New Thought,” and even experiments with politics, all the while emerging from scandals relatively unscathed and ready to move onward and upward once again. Sinclair Lewis published the satirical Elmer Gantry in 1927 much to the dismay of the religious community. It was denounced from the pulpit, banned by many, and even engendered threats of violence. Despite this—or perhaps because of it—it went on to become a massive success and the best selling novel of that year. One of the most savage satirical assaults against institutionalized religion and its hypocrisy in American literature, Elmer Gantry continues to be a window into a particularly important aspect of American history. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

In "Free Air," Sinclair Lewis presents a poignant exploration of the American landscape during the early 20th century, deftly intertwining themes of freedom, individuality, and social class. Through the journey of a young woman, Claire, who embarks on a road trip across the Midwest in a Ford Model T, Lewis employs a rich tapestry of vivid descriptions and sharp characterizations. The novel's literary style reflects the burgeoning modernist movement, incorporating elements of realism and satire to critique the socio-economic conditions of the time while celebrating the emerging spirit of mobility and adventure that characterized American life. Sinclair Lewis, acclaimed as the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, was deeply influenced by his own experiences growing up in the Midwest. His sharp observations of small-town life, coupled with his understanding of the American Dream, position "Free Air" as both a personal and political tribute to the struggles and aspirations of ordinary individuals. Drawing from his own childhood road trips, Lewis crafts a narrative that scrutinizes cultural norms and advocates for personal liberty, reflecting his commitment to social commentary. "Free Air" is a compelling read for anyone interested in early 20th-century American literature and those who seek a nuanced perspective on the quest for freedom and identity in a rapidly changing society. Lewis's insightful prose and engaging narrative style invite readers to reflect on the intricate relationship between place and identity, making this novel a timeless exploration of the human condition.

Please find this unique new edition:1. A novels by the Writer Literature Nobel Prize, Sinclair Lewis2. Enriched by "The Significance of Sinclair Lewis" by Stuart P. Sherman3. Banquet Speech (Acceptance Nobel Prize) & Biographical notes includedIn 1930, Lewis won the Nobel Prize in Literature, the first writer from the United States to receive the award, after he had been nominated by Henrik Sch�ck, member of the Swedish Academy. In the Academy's presentation speech, special attention was paid to Babbitt. In his Nobel Lecture, Lewis praised Theodore Dreiser, Willa Cather, Ernest Hemingway, and other contemporaries, but also lamented that "in America most of us--not readers alone, but even writers--are still afraid of any literature which is not a glorification of everything American, a glorification of our faults as well as our virtues," and that America is "the most contradictory, the most depressing, the most stirring, of any land in the world today." He also offered a profound criticism of the American literary establishment: "Our American professors like their literature clear and cold and pure and very dead."It Can't Happen Here is a semi-satirical 1935 political novel by American author Sinclair Lewis, and a 1936 play adapted from the novel by Lewis and John C. Moffitt.Published during the rise of fascism in Europe, the novel describes the rise of Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, a politician who defeats Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) and is elected President of the United States, after fomenting fear and promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and "traditional" values. After his election, Windrip takes complete control of the government and imposes a plutocratic/totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force, in the manner of Adolf Hitler and the SS. The novel's plot centers on journalist Doremus Jessup's opposition to the new regime and his subsequent struggle against it as part of a liberal rebellion.

Small-town physician, Martin Arrowsmith, is a dedicated worker whose efforts lead him to a promising career in the medical research field. A breakthrough discovery in treating the plague promises wealth and power - but the death of his wife causes him to rethink his priorities. Arrowsmith is arguably the earliest major novel to deal with the culture of science. It was written in the period after the reforms of medical education flowing from the Flexner Report on Medical Education in the United States and Canada: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1910, which had called on medical schools in the United States to adhere to mainstream science in their teaching and research.

In this sardonic portrait of the up-and-coming middle class during the prosperous 1920s, Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) perfectly captures the sound, the feel, and the attitudes of the generation that created the cult of consumerism. With a sharp eye for detail and keen powers of observation, Lewis tracks successful realtor George Babbitt's daily struggles to rise to the top of his profession while maintaining his reputation as an upstanding family man.On the surface, Babbitt appears to be the quintessential middle-class embodiment of conservative values and enthusiasm for the well-to-do lifestyle of the small entrepreneur. But beneath the complacent facade, he also experiences a rising, nameless discontent. These feelings eventually lead Babbitt into risky escapades that threaten his family and his standing in the community.

“The novel that foreshadowed Donald Trump’s authoritarian appeal.”—Salon It Can’t Happen Here is the only one of Sinclair Lewis’s later novels to match the power of Main Street, Babbitt, and Arrowsmith. A cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, it is an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. Written during the Great Depression, when the country was largely oblivious to Hitler’s aggression, it juxtaposes sharp political satire with the chillingly realistic rise of a president who becomes a dictator to save the nation from welfare cheats, sex, crime, and a liberal press. Called “a message to thinking Americans” by the Springfield Republican when it was published in 1935, It Can’t Happen Here is a shockingly prescient novel that remains as fresh and contemporary as today’s news. Includes an Introduction by Michael Meyer and an Afterword by Gary Scharnhorst

In the fall of 1920, Sinclair Lewis began a novel set in a fast-growing city with the heart and mind of a small town. For the center of his cutting satire of American business he created the bustling, shallow, and myopic George F. Babbitt, the epitome of middle-class mediocrity. The novel cemented Lewis’s prominence as a social commentator. Babbitt basks in his pedestrian success and the popularity it has brought him. He demands high moral standards from those around him while flirting with women, and he yearns to have rich friends while shunning those less fortunate than he. But Babbitt’s secure complacency is shattered when his best friend is sent to prison, and he struggles to find meaning in his hollow life. He revolts, but finds that his former routine is not so easily thrown over.

A neglected tour de force by the first American to win the Nobel Prize in literature, Kingsblood Royal is a stirring and wickedly funny portrait of a man who resigns from the white race. When Neil Kingsblood a typical middle-American banker with a comfortable life makes the shocking discovery that he has African-American blood, the odyssey that ensues creates an unforgettable portrayal of two Americas, one black, one white. As timely as when it was first published in 1947, one need only open today's newspaper to see the same issues passionately being discussed between blacks and whites that we find in Kingsblood Royal, says Charles Johnson. Perhaps only now can we fully appreciate Sinclair Lewis's astonishing achievement.

Yielding to the wishes of his spoiled wife, a wealthy American industrialist abandons his ideals to enter the frivolous world of European high society

Let's play king -- The willow walk -- The cat of the stars -- Land -- A letter from the queen -- The Ghost Patrol -- Things -- Young man, Axelbrod -- Speed -- The kidnaped memorial -- Moths in the arc light -- The hack driver -- Go East, young man.