HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In
1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...
, he became the first author from the United States (and the first from the
Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...
) to receive the
Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...
, which was awarded "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters." Lewis wrote six popular novels: '' Main Street'' (1920), '' Babbitt'' (1922), '' Arrowsmith'' (1925), '' Elmer Gantry'' (1927), '' Dodsworth'' (1929), and ''
It Can't Happen Here ''It Can't Happen Here'' is a 1935 dystopian political novel by the American author Sinclair Lewis. Set in a fictionalized version of the 1930s United States, it follows an American politician, Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, who quickly rises to pow ...
'' (1935). Several of his notable works were critical of American
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
and
materialism Materialism is a form of monism, philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental Substance theory, substance in nature, and all things, including mind, mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. Acco ...
during the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
. Lewis is respected for his strong characterizations of modern working women. H. L. Mencken wrote of him, " fthere was ever a novelist among us with an authentic call to the trade ... it is this red-haired tornado from the Minnesota wilds."


Early life

Lewis was born February 7, 1885, in the village of Sauk Centre, Minnesota, to Edwin J. Lewis, a physician of Welsh descent, and Emma Kermott Lewis. He had two older siblings, Fred (born 1875) and Claude (born 1878). His father was a stern disciplinarian, who had difficulty relating to his sensitive, unathletic third son. Lewis's mother died in 1891. The next year Edwin married Isabel Warner, whom young Lewis apparently liked. Lewis began reading books while young, and kept a diary. Throughout his lonely boyhood, the ungainly child—tall, extremely thin, stricken with
acne Acne ( ), also known as ''acne vulgaris'', is a long-term Cutaneous condition, skin condition that occurs when Keratinocyte, dead skin cells and Sebum, oil from the skin clog hair follicles. Typical features of the condition include comedo, ...
and somewhat pop-eyed—had trouble making friends and pined after local girls. At the age of 13, he ran away from home and unsuccessfully tried to become a drummer boy in the
Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...
. In late 1902, Lewis left home for a year at Oberlin Academy (the then-preparatory department of
Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...
) to qualify for acceptance at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
. While at Oberlin, he developed a religious enthusiasm that waxed and waned for much of his remaining teenage years. Lewis later became an atheist. He entered Yale in 1903, but did not receive his
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
until 1908, taking time off to work at Helicon Home Colony,
Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American author, muckraker journalist, and political activist, and the 1934 California gubernatorial election, 1934 Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
's cooperative-living colony in Englewood,
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, and to travel to
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
. Lewis's undistinguished looks, country manners and seeming self-importance made it difficult for him to win and keep friends at Oberlin and Yale. He did make a few friends among the students and professors, some of whom recognized his promise as a writer.


Career

Lewis's earliest published creative work—romantic poetry and short sketches—appeared in the ''Yale Courant'' and the ''
Yale Literary Magazine The ''Yale Literary Magazine'', founded in 1836, is a student literary magazine that publishes poetry, fiction, and visual art by Yale University, Yale undergraduate education, undergraduates twice per year, academic year. Notable alumni feature ...
'', of which he became an editor. After graduation Lewis moved from job to job and from place to place in an effort to make ends meet, writing fiction for publication and to chase away boredom. In the summer of 1908, Lewis worked as an editorial writer at a newspaper in
Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 67,314, making it the List of cities in Iowa, eighth-most populous city in the st ...
. In September of that year, he moved to the Carmel-by-the-Sea writers' colony near
Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...
to work for the MacGowan sisters and to meet poet George Sterling in person. He left Carmel after six months, moving to San Francisco where Sterling helped him get a job at the ''San Francisco Evening Bulletin.'' Lewis returned to Carmel in spring 1910 and met
Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...
. In fall 1910, Lewis moved to
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
to work for Frederick A. Stokes. The next year, he joined the New York chapter of the
Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...
. Among his colleagues in the intellectual wing of the party were
Walter Lippmann Walter Lippmann (September 23, 1889 – December 14, 1974) was an American writer, reporter, and political commentator. With a career spanning 60 years, he is famous for being among the first to introduce the concept of the Cold War, coining t ...
, William English Walling, Ernest Poole, and
John Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight (Ashcan School), T ...
. While working for newspapers and publishing houses he developed a facility for turning out shallow, popular stories that were purchased by a variety of magazines. He also earned money by selling plots to London, including one for the latter's unfinished novel '' The Assassination Bureau, Ltd''. Lewis's first published book was ''Hike and the Aeroplane'', a
Tom Swift Tom Swift is the main character of six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. Inaugurated in 1910, the sequence of series comprises more than 100 volumes. The fi ...
-style
potboiler A potboiler or pot-boiler is a novel, Play (theatre), play, opera, film, or other creative work of dubious literary or artistic merit whose main purpose is to pay for the creator's daily expenses—thus the imagery of "boil the pot", which means " ...
that appeared in 1912 under the pseudonym Tom Graham. Sinclair Lewis's first serious novel, '' Our Mr. Wrenn: The Romantic Adventures of a Gentle Man'', appeared in 1914, followed by '' The Trail of the Hawk: A Comedy of the Seriousness of Life'' (1915) and '' The Job'' (1917). That same year also saw the publication of another potboiler, '' The Innocents: A Story for Lovers'', an expanded version of a serial story that had originally appeared in ''
Woman's Home Companion ''Woman's Home Companion'' was an American monthly magazine, published from 1873 to 1957. It was highly successful, climbing to a circulation peak of more than four million during the 1930s and 1940s. The magazine, headquartered in Springfield, O ...
''. '' Free Air'', another refurbished serial story, was published in 1919.


Commercial success

Upon moving to
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, Lewis devoted himself to writing. As early as 1916, he began taking notes for a realistic novel about small-town life. Work on that novel continued through mid-1920, when he completed '' Main Street'', which was published on October 23, 1920. His biographer Mark Schorer wrote in 1961 that the phenomenal success of ''Main Street'' "was the most sensational event in twentieth-century American publishing history". Lewis's agent had the most optimistic projection of sales at 25,000 copies. In its first six months, ''Main Street'' sold 180,000 copies, and within a few years, sales were estimated at two million. Richard Lingeman wrote in 2002, "''Main Street'' made ewisrich—earning him about 3 million current dollars" (almost $5 million, as of 2022). Lewis followed up this first great success with '' Babbitt'' (1922), a novel that satirized the American commercial culture and
boosterism Boosterism is the act of promoting ("boosting") a town, city, or organization, with the goal of improving public perception of it. Boosting can be as simple as talking up the entity at a party or as elaborate as establishing a visitors' bureau. ...
. The story was set in the fictional Midwestern town of
Zenith, Winnemac ''Babbitt'' (1922), by Sinclair Lewis, is a satirical novel about American culture and society that critiques the vacuity of middle class life and the social pressure toward conformity. The controversy provoked by ''Babbitt'' was influential in ...
, a setting to which Lewis returned in future novels, including '' Arrowsmith, Elmer Gantry'', '' Gideon Planish'' and '' Dodsworth''. Lewis continued his success in the 1920s with '' Arrowsmith'' (1925), a novel about the challenges faced by an idealistic doctor. It was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
, which Lewis declined, still upset that ''Main Street'' had not won the prize. It was adapted as a 1931
Hollywood film The cinema of the United States, primarily associated with major film studios collectively referred to as Hollywood, has significantly influenced the global film industry since the early 20th century. Classical Hollywood cinema, a filmmakin ...
directed by
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...
and starring
Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor who started his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then emigrated to the United States where he had a highly successful Cinema of the United ...
which was nominated for four
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
s. Next Lewis published '' Elmer Gantry'' (1927), which depicted an
evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
minister as deeply hypocritical. The novel was denounced by many religious leaders and banned in some U.S. cities. It was adapted for the screen more than a generation later as the basis of the 1960 movie starring
Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor. Initially known for playing tough characters with tender hearts, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year caree ...
, who earned a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in the title role. The film won two more awards as well. Lewis next published '' Dodsworth'' (1929), a novel about the most affluent and successful members of American society. He portrayed them as leading essentially pointless lives in spite of great wealth and advantages. The book was adapted for the Broadway stage in 1934 by
Sidney Howard Sidney Coe Howard (June 26, 1891 – August 23, 1939) was an American playwright, dramatist and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 and a posthumous Academy Award in 1940 for the screenplay for '' Gone with the Wind'' ...
, who also wrote the screenplay for the 1936 film version directed by
William Wyler William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a German-born American film director and producer. Known for his work in numerous genres over five decades, he received numerous awards and accolades, including three Aca ...
, which was a great success at the time. The film is still highly regarded; in 1990, it was selected for preservation in the
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...
, and in 2005 ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine named it one of the "100 Best Movies" of the past 80 years. During the late 1920s and 1930s, Lewis wrote many short stories for a variety of magazines and publications. " Little Bear Bongo" (1930) is a tale about a bear cub who wants to escape the circus in search of a better life in the real world, first published in ''
Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...
'' magazine. The story was acquired by
Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...
in 1940 for a possible feature film. World War II sidetracked those plans until 1947. Disney used the story (now titled "Bongo") as part of its feature ''
Fun and Fancy Free ''Fun and Fancy Free'' is a 1947 American animated musical fantasy anthology film produced by Walt Disney and Ben Sharpsteen and released on September 27, 1947, by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is a compilation of two stories: ''Bongo'', narrate ...
''.


Nobel Prize

In 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 Schück, member of the
Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy (), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body t ...
. In the academy's presentation speech, special attention was paid to ''Babbitt''. In his Nobel Lecture, Lewis praised
Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalism (literature), naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despi ...
,
Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including ''O Pioneers!'', ''The Song of the Lark (novel), The Song of the Lark'', a ...
,
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...
, 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."


Later years

After winning the Nobel Prize, Lewis wrote eleven more novels, ten of which appeared in his lifetime. The best remembered is ''
It Can't Happen Here ''It Can't Happen Here'' is a 1935 dystopian political novel by the American author Sinclair Lewis. Set in a fictionalized version of the 1930s United States, it follows an American politician, Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, who quickly rises to pow ...
'' (1935), a novel about the election of a
fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
to the American presidency. After praising Dreiser as "pioneering", that he "more than any other man, marching alone, usually unappreciated, often hated, has cleared the trail from Victorian and Howellsian timidity and gentility in American fiction to honesty and boldness and passion of life" in his Nobel Lecture in December 1930, in March 1931 Lewis publicly accused Dreiser of plagiarizing a book by Dorothy Thompson, Lewis's wife, which led to a well-publicized fight, wherein Dreiser repeatedly slapped Lewis. Thompson initially made the accusation in 1928 regarding her work "The New Russia" and Dreiser's "Dreiser Goes to Russia", though ''The New York Times'' also linked the dispute to competition between Dreiser and Lewis over the Nobel Prize. Dreiser fired back that Sinclair's 1925 novel '' Arrowsmith'' (adapted later that year as a
feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...
) was unoriginal and that Dreiser himself was first approached to write it, which was disputed by the wife of ''Arrowsmith'''s subject, microbiologist Dr.
Paul de Kruif Paul Henry de Kruif (, rhyming with "life") (March 2, 1890 – February 28, 1971) was an American microbiologist and writer. Publishing as Paul de Kruif, he is known for his 1926 book, ''Microbe Hunters''. This book was not only a bestseller for a ...
. The feud carried on for some months. In 1944, Lewis campaigned to have Dreiser recognized by the
American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...
. After an alcoholic binge in 1937, Lewis checked in for treatment to the
Austen Riggs Center The Austen Riggs Center is a psychiatric treatment facility in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1913 as the Stockbridge Institute for the Study and Treatment of Psychoneuroses, it was renamed the Austen Fox Riggs Foundation in 1919. ...
, a psychiatric hospital in
Stockbridge, Massachusetts Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridg ...
. His doctors gave him a blunt assessment that he needed to decide "whether he was going to live without alcohol or die by it, one or the other."Lingeman, 420–422 Lewis checked out after ten days, lacking any "fundamental understanding of his problem", as one of his physicians wrote to a colleague. In the autumn of 1940, Lewis visited his old acquaintance,
William Ellery Leonard William Ellery Leonard (January 25, 1876, in Plainfield, New Jersey – May 2, 1944, in Madison, Wisconsin) was an American poet, playwright, translator, and literary scholar. Early life William Ellery Channing Leonard was born on the family ho ...
, in Madison, Wisconsin. Leonard arranged a meeting with the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a tour of the campus. Lewis immediately became enthralled with the university and the city and offered to remain and teach a course in creative writing in the upcoming semester. For a month he was quite enamored of his professorial role. Suddenly, on November 7, after giving only five classes to his select group of 24 students, he announced that he had taught them all that he knew. He left Madison the next day. In the 1940s, Lewis and rabbi-turned-popular-author Lewis Browne frequently appeared on the lecture platform together, touring the United States and debating before audiences of as many as 3,000 people, addressing such questions as "Has the Modern Woman Made Good?", "The Country Versus the City", "Is the Machine Age Wrecking Civilization?", and "Can Fascism Happen Here?". The pair were described as "the Gallagher and Shean of the lecture circuit" by Lewis biographer Richard Lingeman. In the early 1940s, Lewis lived in Duluth, Minnesota. During this time, he wrote the novel ''Kingsblood Royal'' (1947), set in the fictional city of Grand Republic, Minnesota, an enlarged and updated version of Zenith. It is based on the Sweet Trials in
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
in which an
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
doctor was denied the chance to purchase a house in a "white" section of the city. Lewis' creation of the novel was preceded by his introduction to the black community via Edward Francis Murphy, a Josephite priest with whom he had attended school as a child. ''Kingsblood'' was a powerful and very early contribution to the civil rights movement. In 1943, Lewis went to Hollywood to work on a script with
Dore Schary Isadore "Dore" Schary (August 31, 1905 – July 7, 1980) was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed one feature film, ''Act One (film), Act One'', th ...
, who had just resigned as executive head of
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
's low-budget film department to concentrate on writing and producing his own films. The resulting screenplay was ''Storm In the West'', "a traditional American western" — except for the fact that it was also an allegory of World War II, with primary villain Hygatt (
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
) and his henchmen Gribbles ( Goebbels) and Gerrett ( Goering) plotting to take over the Franson Ranch, the Poling Ranch, and so on. The screenplay was deemed too political by MGM studio executives and was shelved, and the film was never made. ''Storm In the West'' was finally published in 1963, with a foreword by Schary detailing the work's origins, the authors' creative process, and the screenplay's ultimate fate. Sinclair Lewis had been a frequent visitor to Williamstown, Massachusetts. In 1946, he rented Thorvale Farm on Oblong Road. While working on his novel ''Kingsblood Royal'', he purchased this summer estate and upgraded the Georgian mansion along with a farmhouse and many outbuildings. By 1948, Lewis had created a gentleman's farm consisting of of agricultural and forest land. His intended residence in Williamstown was short-lived because of his medical problems.


Personal life

In 1914 Lewis married Grace Livingston Hegger (1887–1981), an editor at '' Vogue'' magazine. They had one son, Wells Lewis (1917–1944), named after British author
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...
. Serving as a U.S. Army lieutenant during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Wells Lewis was killed in action on October 29, 1944 amid Allied efforts to rescue the "Lost Battalion" in France.
Dean Acheson Dean Gooderham Acheson ( ; April 11, 1893October 12, 1971) was an American politician and lawyer. As the 51st United States Secretary of State, U.S. Secretary of State, he set the foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration from 1949 to ...
, the future Secretary of State, was a neighbor and family friend in Washington, and observed that Sinclair's literary "success was not good for that marriage, or for either of the parties to it, or for Lewis's work" and the family moved out of town. Lewis divorced Grace on April 16, 1928. On May 14, he married the noted international correspondant and newspaper columnist
Dorothy Thompson Dorothy Celene Thompson (July 9, 1893 – January 30, 1961) was an American journalist and radio broadcaster. She was the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany, in 1934, and was one of the few women news commentators broadc ...
. In 1928, he and Dorothy purchased a second home in rural Vermont. They had a son, Michael Lewis (1930–1975), who became a stage actor. Their marriage had virtually ended by 1937, and they divorced in 1942. Lewis died in Rome from advanced alcoholism, on January 10, 1951, aged 65. His body was cremated and his remains were buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. His final novel ''World So Wide'' (1951) was published posthumously.
William Shirer William Lawrence Shirer (; February 23, 1904 – December 28, 1993) was an American journalist, war correspondent, and historian. His '' The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', a history of Nazi Germany, has been read by many and cited in schol ...
, a friend and admirer of Lewis, argued that Lewis did not die from alcoholism. He reported that Lewis had a heart attack and that his doctors advised him to stop drinking if he wanted to live. Lewis did not stop, and perhaps could not; he died when his heart stopped.William L. Shirer, ''20th Century Journey: A Memoir of a Life and the Times'' vol. 1: ''The Start: 1904–1930'' (NY: Bantam Books, 1980) 458–9 In summarizing Lewis's career, Shirer said:


Legacy

Compared to his contemporaries, Lewis's reputation suffered a precipitous decline among literary scholars throughout the 20th century. Despite his enormous popularity during the 1920s, by the 21st century most of his works had been eclipsed in prominence by other writers with less commercial success during the same time period, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...
. Since the 2010s there has been renewed interest in Lewis's work, in particular his 1935 dystopian satire ''
It Can't Happen Here ''It Can't Happen Here'' is a 1935 dystopian political novel by the American author Sinclair Lewis. Set in a fictionalized version of the 1930s United States, it follows an American politician, Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, who quickly rises to pow ...
''. In the aftermath of the
2016 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor, Indiana governor Mike P ...
, ''It Can't Happen Here'' surged to the top of
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
's list of best-selling books. Scholars have found parallels in his novels to the COVID-19 crisis, and to the rise of
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
. He has been honored by the
U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
with a
postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...
in the Great Americans series. In 1960 Polish American sculptor Joseph Kiselewski was commissioned to create a bust of Lewis, now in the Great River Regional public library in Sauk Centre, MN.


Works


Novels

* 1912: ''Hike and the Aeroplane'' (juvenile, as Tom Graham) * 1914: '' Our Mr. Wrenn: The Romantic Adventures of a Gentle Man'' * 1915: '' The Trail of the Hawk: A Comedy of the Seriousness of Life'' * 1917: '' The Job'' * 1917: '' The Innocents: A Story for Lovers'' * 1919: '' Free Air''
Serialized in ''
The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...
'', May 31, June 7, June 14 and 21, 1919 * 1920: '' Main Street'' * 1922: '' Babbitt''
Excerpted in '' Hearst's International'', October 1922 * 1925: '' Arrowsmith'' * 1926: '' Mantrap''
Serialized in ''
Collier's } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...
'', February 20, March 20 and April 24, 1926 * 1927: '' Elmer Gantry'' * 1928: '' The Man Who Knew Coolidge: Being the Soul of Lowell Schmaltz, Constructive and Nordic Citizen'' * 1929: '' Dodsworth'' * 1933: '' Ann Vickers''
Serialized in ''
Redbook ''Redbook'' is an American women's magazine that is published by the Hearst Communications, Hearst magazine division. It is one of the "Seven Sisters (magazines), Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines. It ceased print publicatio ...
'', August, November and December 1932 * 1934: ''
Work of Art A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...
'' * 1935: ''
It Can't Happen Here ''It Can't Happen Here'' is a 1935 dystopian political novel by the American author Sinclair Lewis. Set in a fictionalized version of the 1930s United States, it follows an American politician, Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, who quickly rises to pow ...
'' * 1938: ''The Prodigal Parents'' * 1940: '' Bethel Merriday'' * 1943: ''Gideon Planish'' * 1945: ''Cass Timberlane: A Novel of Husbands and Wives''
Appeared in ''Cosmopolitan'', July 1945. * 1947: '' Kingsblood Royal'' * 1949: ''The God-Seeker'' * 1951: ''World So Wide'' (posthumous) ''Babbitt, Mantrap'' and ''Cass Timberlane'' were published as Armed Services Editions during WWII.


Short stories

* 1907: "That Passage in Isaiah", ''The Blue Mule'', May 1907 * 1907: "Art and the Woman", ''The Gray Goose'', June 1907 * 1911: "The Way to Rome", ''The Bellman'', May 13, 1911 * 1915: "Commutation: $9.17", ''
The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...
'', October 30, 1915 * 1915: "The Other Side of the House", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', November 27, 1915 * 1916: "If I Were Boss", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', January 1 and 8, 1916 * 1916: "I'm a Stranger Here Myself", ''
The Smart Set ''The Smart Set'' was an American monthly literary magazine, founded by Colonel William d'Alton Mann and published from March 1900 to June 1930. Its headquarters was in New York City. During its Jazz Age heyday under the editorship of H. L. Men ...
'', August 1916 * 1916: "He Loved His Country", ''
Everybody's Magazine ''Everybody's Magazine'' was an American magazine published from 1899 to 1929. The magazine was headquartered in New York City. History and profile The magazine was founded by Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker in 1899, though he had little r ...
'', October 1916 * 1916: "Honestly If Possible", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', October 14, 191 * 1917: "Twenty-Four Hours in June", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', February 17, 1917 * 1917: "The Innocents", ''
Woman's Home Companion ''Woman's Home Companion'' was an American monthly magazine, published from 1873 to 1957. It was highly successful, climbing to a circulation peak of more than four million during the 1930s and 1940s. The magazine, headquartered in Springfield, O ...
'', March 1917 * 1917: "A Story with a Happy Ending", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', March 17, 1917 * 1917: "Hobohemia", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', April 7, 1917 * 1917: "The Ghost Patrol", '' The Red Book Magazine'', June 1917
Adapted for the silent film '' The Ghost Patrol'' (1923) * 1917: "Young Man Axelbrod", '' The Century'', June 1917 * 1917: "A Woman by Candlelight", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', July 28, 1917 * 1917: "The Whisperer", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', August 11, 1917 * 1917: "The Hidden People", '' Good Housekeeping'', September 1917 * 1917: "Joy-Joy", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', October 20, 1917 * 1918: "A Rose for Little Eva", ''
McClure's ''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism (investigative journ ...
'', February 1918 * 1918: "Slip It to 'Em", '' Metropolitan Magazine'', March 1918 * 1918: "An Invitation to Tea", ''Every Week'', June 1, 1918 * 1918: "The Shadowy Glass", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', June 22, 1918 * 1918: "The Willow Walk", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', August 10, 1918 * 1918: "Getting His Bit", ''Metropolitan Magazine'', September 1918 * 1918: "The Swept Hearth", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', September 21, 1918 * 1918: "Jazz", ''Metropolitan Magazine'', October 1918 * 1918: "Gladvertising", ''
The Popular Magazine ''The Popular Magazine'' was an early American literary magazine that ran for 612 issues from November 1903 to October 1931. It featured short fiction, novellas, serialized larger works, and even entire short novels. The magazine's subject matt ...
'', October 7, 1918 * 1919: "Moths in the Arc Light", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', January 11, 1919 * 1919: "The Shrinking Violet", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', February 15, 1919 * 1919: "Things", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', February 22, 1919 * 1919: "The Cat of the Stars", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', April 19, 1919 * 1919: "The Watcher Across the Road", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', May 24, 1919 * 1919: "Speed", ''The Red Book Magazine'', June 1919 * 1919: "The Shrimp-Colored Blouse", ''The Red Book Magazine'', August 1919 * 1919: "The Enchanted Hour", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', August 9, 1919 * 1919: "Danger—Run Slow", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', October 18 and 25, 1919 * 1919: "Bronze Bars", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', December 13, 1919 * 1920: "Habeas Corpus", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', January 24, 1920 * 1920: "Way I See It", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', May 29, 1920 * 1920: "The Good Sport", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', December 11, 1920 * 1921: "A Matter of Business", ''
Harper's ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
'', March 1921 * 1921: "Number Seven to Sagapoose", ''
The American Magazine ''The American Magazine'' was a periodical publication founded in June 1906, a continuation of failed publications purchased a few years earlier from publishing mogul Miriam Leslie. It succeeded '' Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly'' (1876–1904) ...
'', May 1921 * 1921: "The Post-Mortem Murder", ''The Century'', May 1921 * 1923: "The Hack Driver", ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'', August 29, 1923 * 1929: "He Had a Brother", ''
Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...
'', May 1929 * 1929: "There Was a Prince", ''Cosmopolitan'', June 1929 * 1929: "Elizabeth, Kitty and Jane", ''Cosmopolitan'', July 1929 * 1929: "Dear Editor", ''Cosmopolitan'', August 1929 * 1929: "What a Man!", ''Cosmopolitan'', September 1929 * 1929: "Keep Out of the Kitchen", ''Cosmopolitan'', October 1929 * 1929: "A Letter from the Queen", ''Cosmopolitan'', December 1929 * 1930: "Youth", ''Cosmopolitan'', February 1930 * 1930: "Noble Experiment", ''Cosmopolitan'', August 1930 * 1930: " Little Bear Bongo", ''Cosmopolitan'', September 1930
Adapted for the animated feature film ''
Fun and Fancy Free ''Fun and Fancy Free'' is a 1947 American animated musical fantasy anthology film produced by Walt Disney and Ben Sharpsteen and released on September 27, 1947, by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is a compilation of two stories: ''Bongo'', narrate ...
'' (1947) * 1930: "Go East, Young Man", ''Cosmopolitan'', December 1930 * 1931: "Let's Play King", ''Cosmopolitan'', January, February and March 1931 * 1931: "Pajamas", ''Redbook'', April 1931 * 1931: "Ring Around a Rosy", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', June 6, 1931 * 1931: "City of Mercy", ''Cosmopolitan'', July 1931 * 1931: "Land", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', September 12, 1931 * 1931: "Dollar Chasers", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', October 17 and 24, 1931 * 1935: "The Hippocratic Oath", ''Cosmopolitan'', June 1935 * 1935: "Proper Gander", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', July 13, 1935 * 1935: "Onward, Sons of Ingersoll!", '' Scribner's'', August 1935 * 1936: "From the Queen", '' Argosy'', February 1936 * 1941: "The Man Who Cheated Time", ''Good Housekeeping'', March 1941 * 1941: "Manhattan Madness", ''The American Magazine'', September 1941 * 1941: "They Had Magic Then!", ''
Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...
'', September 6, 1941 * 1943: "All Wives Are Angels", ''Cosmopolitan'', February 1943 * 1943: "Nobody to Write About", ''Cosmopolitan'', July 1943 * 1943: "Green Eyes—A Handbook of Jealousy", ''Cosmopolitan'', September and October 1943 * 1943: ''Harri''
Serialized in Good Housekeeping, August, September 1943 (novella)


''The Short Stories of Sinclair Lewis (1904–1949)''

Samuel J. Rogal edited ''The Short Stories of Sinclair Lewis (1904–1949)'', a seven-volume set published in 2007 by
Edwin Mellen Press The Edwin Mellen Press, sometimes stylised as Mellen Press, is an academic publisher. It was founded in 1972 by theology professor Herbert Richardson (publisher), Herbert W. Richardson. It has been involved in a number of notable legal and acad ...
. The first attempt to collect all of Lewis's short stories. * Volume 1 (June 1904 – January 1916) * Volume 2 (August 1916 – October 1917) * Volume 3 (January 1918 – February 1919) * Volume 4 (February 1919 – May 1921) * Volume 5 (August 1923 – April 1931) * Volume 6 (June 1931 – March 1941) * Volume 7 (September 1941 – May 1949)


Articles

* 1915: "Nature, Inc.", ''
The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...
'', October 2, 1915 * 1917: "For the Zelda Bunch", ''
McClure's ''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism (investigative journ ...
'', October 1917 * 1918: "Spiritualist Vaudeville", '' Metropolitan Magazine'', February 1918 * 1919: "Adventures in Autobumming: Gasoline Gypsies", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', December 20, 1919 * 1919: "Adventures in Autobumming: Want a Lift?", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', December 27, 1919 * 1920: "Adventures in Autobumming: The Great American Frying Pan", ''The Saturday Evening Post'', January 3, 1920


Plays

* 1919: ''Hobohemia'' * 1934: ''Jayhawker: A Play in Three Acts'' (with Lloyd Lewis) * 1936: ''
It Can't Happen Here ''It Can't Happen Here'' is a 1935 dystopian political novel by the American author Sinclair Lewis. Set in a fictionalized version of the 1930s United States, it follows an American politician, Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, who quickly rises to pow ...
'' (with John C. Moffitt) * 1938: ''Angela Is Twenty-Two'' (with
Fay Wray Vina Fay Wray (September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was a Canadian-American actress best known for starring as Ann Darrow in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Through an acting career that spanned nearly six decades, Wray attained international r ...
)
Adapted for the feature film '' This Is the Life'' (1944)


Screenplay

* 1943: ''Storm In the West'' (with
Dore Schary Isadore "Dore" Schary (August 31, 1905 – July 7, 1980) was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed one feature film, ''Act One (film), Act One'', th ...
– unproduced)


Poems

* 1907: "The Ultra-Modern", ''
The Smart Set ''The Smart Set'' was an American monthly literary magazine, founded by Colonel William d'Alton Mann and published from March 1900 to June 1930. Its headquarters was in New York City. During its Jazz Age heyday under the editorship of H. L. Men ...
'', July 1907 * 1907: "Dim Hours of Dusk", ''The Smart Set'', August 1907 * 1907: "Disillusion", ''The Smart Set'', December 1907 * 1909: "Summer in Winter", ''People's Magazine'', February 1909 * 1912: "A Canticle of Great Lovers", '' Ainslee's Magazine'', July 1912


Forewords

* 1942: ''Henry Ward Beecher: An American Portrait'' (by Paxton Hibben; publisher: The Press of the Readers Club, NY NY)


Books

* 1915: ''Tennis As I Play It'' (ghostwritten for Maurice McLoughlin)Pastore, 323–5 * 1926: ''John Dos Passos' Manhattan Transfer'' * 1929: ''Cheap and Contented Labor: The Picture of a Southern Mill Town in 1929'' * 1935: ''Selected Short Stories of Sinclair Lewis'' * 1952: ''From Main Street to Stockholm: Letters of Sinclair Lewis, 1919–1930'' (edited by
Alfred Harcourt Alfred Harcourt (; January 31, 1881 – June 20, 1954) was an American publisher and compiler who co-founded Harcourt Trade Publishers, Harcourt, Brace & Howe in 1919. Biography Harcourt was the son of Gertrude M. Elting and Charles M. Harcourt. ...
and Oliver Harrison) * 1953: ''A Sinclair Lewis Reader: Selected Essays and Other Writings, 1904–1950'' (edited by Harry E. Maule and Melville Cane) * 1962: ''I'm a Stranger Here Myself and Other Stories'' (edited by Mark Schorer) * 1962: ''Sinclair Lewis: A Collection of Critical Essays'' (edited by Mark Schorer) * 1985: ''Selected Letters of Sinclair Lewis'' (edited by John J. Koblas and Dave Page) * 1997: ''If I Were Boss: The Early Business Stories of Sinclair Lewis'' (edited by Anthony Di Renzo) * 2000: ''Minnesota Diary, 1942–46'' (edited by George Killough) * 2005: ''Go East, Young Man: Sinclair Lewis on Class in America'' (edited by Sally E. Parry) * 2005: ''The Minnesota Stories of Sinclair Lewis'' (edited by Sally E. Parry)


See also

* Sinclair Lewis Boyhood Home * The Palmer House (Sauk Centre)


References


Citations


Sources

; Works cited * Lingeman, Richard R. (2002) ''Sinclair Lewis: Rebel From Main Street.'' New York: Borealis Books.
online
* Pastore, Stephen R. (1997) ''Sinclair Lewis: A Descriptive Bibliography''. New Haven, YALE UP. . * Schorer, Mark. (1961) ''Sinclair Lewis: An American Life.'' New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961
online


Further reading

* Augspurger, Michael. "Sinclair Lewis' Primers for the Professional Managerial Class: ''Babbitt, Arrowsmith,'' and ''Dodsworth''." ''Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association'' 34.2 (2001): 73–97
online
*Babcock, C. Merton, and Sinclair Lewis. "Americanisms in the Novels of Sinclair Lewis." ''American Speech'' 35.2 (1960): 110–116
online
* Blair, Amy. "Main Street Reading Main Street." ''New directions in American reception study'' (2008): 139–58
online
* Bucco, Martin. ''Main Street: The Revolt of Carol Kennicott'', 1993. * Dooley, D. J. ''The Art of Sinclair Lewis'', 1967. * Eisenman, David J. "Rereading Arrowsmith in the COVID-19 Pandemic." ''JAMA'' 324.4 (2020): 319–320
online
* Fleming, Robert E. ''Sinclair Lewis, a reference guide'' (1980
online
* Hutchisson, James M. "Sinclair Lewis, Paul De Kruif, and the Composition of" Arrowsmith"." ''Studies in the Novel'' 24.1 (1992): 48–66
online
* Hutchisson, James M. "All of Us Americans at 46: The Making of Sinclair Lewis' ''Babbitt''." ''Journal of Modern Literature'' 18.1 (1992): 95–114
online
* Hutchisson, James M. ''Rise of Sinclair Lewis, 1920–1930'' (Penn State Press, 2010)
online
* Light, Martin. ''The Quixotic Vision of Sinclair Lewis'' (1975
online
* Love, Glen A. ''Babbitt: An American Life'' * Love, Glen A. "New Pioneering on the Prairies: Nature, Progress and the Individual in the Novels of Sinclair Lewis." ''American Quarterly'' 25.5 (1973): 558–577
online
* Michels, Steven J. ''Sinclair Lewis and American Democracy'' (Lexington Books, 2016). * Poll, Ryan. ''Main Street and Empire''. (2012). * Schorer, Mark, ed. ''Sinclair Lewis, a collection of critical essays'' (1962
online
* Strenski, Ellen. "It Can't Happen Here, or Has It? Sinclair Lewis's Fascist America." ''Terrorism and Political Violence ''29.3 (2017): 425–436, compare with Donald Trump. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2017.1304760 * Tanner, Stephen L. "Sinclair Lewis and Fascism." ''Studies in the Novel'' 22.1 (1990): 57–66
online
* Winans, Edward R. "Monarch Notes: Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt'' (1965
online
* Witschi, Nicolas. "Sinclair Lewis, the Voice of Satire, and Mary Austin's Revolt from the Village." ''American Literary Realism, 1870–1910'' 30.1 (1997): 75–90
online
* ''Modern Fiction Studies'', vol. 31.3, Autumn 1985, special issues on Sinclair Lewis. * ''Sinclair Lewis at 100: Papers Presented at a Centennial Conference'', 1985.


External links

* * *

at
Project Gutenberg Australia Project Gutenberg Australia, abbreviated as PGA, is an Internet site which was founded in 2001 by Colin Choat. It is a sister site of Project Gutenberg, though there is no formal relationship between the two organizations. The site hosts free ebo ...
* *
List of Works
* *
Sinclair Lewis Society
* including the Nobel Lecture, December 12, 1930 "The American Fear of Literature"
NBC Biographies in Sound #43 They Knew Sinclair Lewis


WBGU-PBS documentary *
The ''New York Times'' review of ''Main Street'' by Sinclair Lewis (1920)
* Sinclair Lewis Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Sinclair 1885 births 1951 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists Alcohol-related deaths in Italy American atheists American anti-capitalists American anti-fascists American expatriates in Italy American male dramatists and playwrights American male non-fiction writers American male novelists American male short story writers American Nobel laureates American people of Welsh descent American satirical novelists American satirists American short story writers Nobel laureates in Literature Novelists from Connecticut Novelists from Minnesota Oberlin College alumni People from Sauk Centre, Minnesota Pulitzer Prize for the Novel winners Writers from California Writers from New Haven, Connecticut Writers from Washington, D.C. Yale University alumni Austen Riggs Center patients Socialist Party of America politicians from New York (state) Wikipedia articles containing unlinked shortened footnotes American magazine editors