Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951)

"Everything that is worth while in the world has been accomplished by the free, inquiring, critical spirit" - Sinclair Lewis

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Literary criticism

Allen, Brooke. Sinclair Lewis: The bard of discontents. "Sinclair Lewis, like his literary idols Shaw, Wells, and Ibsen, was one of the world's great intellectual liberators. He looked at the institutions that tyrannically ruled American life-the Family, the Protestant Church, Business Interests, Good Fellowship-and made his readers understand that their ascendance was arbitrary and to a large degree baneful." In The Hudson Review, Spring 2003

Fleming, Robert E. An introduction to Sinclair Lewis from the Literary Encyclopedia, 08 January 2001 On Main Street (1920); Babbitt (1922); Arrowsmith (1925); Elmer Gantry (1927); Dodsworth (1929); It Can't Happen Here (1935); Kingsblood Royal (1947)

Hutchisson, James M. Publisher's blurb for The Rise of Sinclair Lewis, 1920-1930 (Penn State Univ. Press, 1996).

Hutchisson, James M. A review of James M. Hutchisson, ed. Sinclair Lewis: New Essays in Criticism (Whitson Publishing,1997) Reviewed by William T. Hamilton for the Rocky Mountain MLA, 53.2.

Lingeman, Richard. Silly Babbitt. A review of Sinclair Lewis: Rebel from Main Street (Random House) compares it to Mark Schorer's negative biography of Lewis in 1961. In National Review, March 11, 2002, reviewed by Terry Teachout

Parry, Sally. Dr. Parry, who is president of the Sinclair Lewis Society, discusses themes in Babbitt, Main Street, Arrowsmith, Elmer Gantry, and It Can't Happen Here; provides information about the 1920s and suggestions for further reading; and more, through her frequently asked questions page.

Smiley, Jane. All-American Iconoclast, a brief article by novelist Jane Smiley on Lewis and the new Lewis biography by Richard Lingeman, in the NYTimes, January 20, 2002

Introduction

Nobel Prize web page for Sinclair Lewis, the first American to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1930. Lewis's account of his life for the Nobel Foundation.

["His name was George F. Babbitt... "] An article by a popular columnist compares "bashing the midwest" in Sinclair Lewis and the Jack Nicholson movie, About Schmidt. In the Chicago Sun-Times, Jan 16, 2003 by George Will (taken offline at findarticles.com)

An online exhibition of original editions and dustjackets of Sinclair Lewis with a short essay on the novels. From the George Mason University Library Special Collections.

A description of the Sinclair Lewis holdings at the Port Washington (NY) Public Library, and a brief biography of Lewis.

(taken offline) The Sauk Centre Herald, Sinclair Lewis's hometown newspaper, has reprinted a few articles about its Sinclair Lewis Days.

Bibliography

A bibliography for Sinclair Lewis's works and scholarly criticism on Lewis from Dr. Sally Parry, president of the Sinclair Lewis Society.

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