Main Street - Softcover

Lewis, Sinclair

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0451518985 ISBN 13: 9780451518989

Publisher: Signet Classics, 1961

Synopsis

The lonely predicament of Carol Kennicott, caught between her desires for social reform and individual happiness, reflects the position in which America's turn of the century, emancipated woman, found herself. Carol's dilemma is intensified by the fact that she lives in the small, self-satisfied, Midwestern town of Gopher Prairie. An allegory of exile and return, Main Street attacks the drab complacency and ingrown mores of those who resist change, who are under the illusion that they have chosen their tradition. Carol's ostracism, however, results more from her own guilt at crusading that from her rejection by those whom she would have changed. Maxwell Geismar lauded this work as a remarkable diary of the middle class mind in America. It's author was hailed by John Gaisworth for having written a most searching and excellent piece of work; a feather in the cap of literature. This is from the back cover of this book.

About this title

About the Author

Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) 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, which was awarded "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters." His works are known for their insightful and critical views of American capitalism and materialism between the wars. He is also respected for his strong characterizations of modern working women. H.L. Mencken wrote of him, "[If] there was ever a novelist among us with an authentic call to the trade ... it is this red-haired tornado from the Minnesota wilds."

He has been honored by the U.S. Postal Service with a Great Americans series postage stamp.

From the Inside Flap

This classic by Sinclair Lewis shattered the sentimental American myth of happy small-town life with its satire. "Main Street attacks the conformity and dullness of early 20th Century midwestern village life in the story of Carol Milford, the city girl who marries the town doctor. Her efforts to bring culture to the prairie village are met by a wall of gossip, greed, and petty small-minded bigotry. Lewis's complex and compelling work established him as an important character in American literature.

Edition details

• Publisher: Signet Classics
• Publication date: 1961
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0451518985
• ISBN 13: 9780451518989
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 439