''Free Air'' is a 1919 novel written by
Sinclair Lewis
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 ...
. A
silent film adaptation of the novel was also released on April 30, 1922. The film starred Tom Douglas as Milt Daggett and Marjorie Seaman as Claire Boltwood.
Plot summary
"This cheerful little road novel, published in 1919, is about Claire Boltwood, who, in the early days of the 20th century, travels by automobile from New York City to the Pacific Northwest, where she falls in love with a nice, down-to-earth young man and gives up her snobbish Estate." (From the Book Stub)
From a critical perspective, ''Free Air'' is consistent with Sinclair Lewis's lean towards
egalitarian politics, which he displays in his other works (most notably in ''
It Can't Happen Here
''It Can't Happen Here'' is a 1935 dystopian political novel by American author Sinclair Lewis. It describes the rise of a United States dictator similar to how Adolf Hitler gained power. The novel was adapted into a play by Lewis and John C. Mo ...
''). Examples of his politics in ''Free Air'' are found in Lewis's emphasis on the heroic role played by the book's protagonist, Milt Dagget, a working class everyman type. Conversely, Lewis presents nearly every upper-class character in Claire Boltwood's world (including her railroad-mogul father) as snobby elitists. The story also champions the democratic nature of the automobile versus the more aristocratic railroad travel. Lewis's emphasis on the freedom which automobiles would eventually give the working and middle classes bolsters the egalitarian, democratic aesthetic. ''Free Air'' is one of the first novels about the road trip, a subject around which the
Beats (most notably
Jack Kerouac) would build a cult following in the mid-20th century.
In the HBO series ''
Boardwalk Empire'', set initially in 1920, Jimmy and his girlfriend Pearl are reading ''Free Air''. The 18-year-old Chicago prostitute Pearl hopes to head West like the heroine, along with Jimmy.
See also
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External links
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1919 American novels
Novels by Sinclair Lewis
Northwestern United States in fiction
American novels adapted into films
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