Other editions of book Main Street

Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), was born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota and graduated from Yale in 1907. In 1930 he became the first American recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Main Street (1920) was his first critical and commercial success. Lewis's other noted books include Babbitt (1922), Arrowsmith (1925), Elmer Gantry (1927), Dodsworth (1929), and It Can't Happen Here (1935). Main Street, the story of an idealistic young woman's attempts to reform her small town, brought Lewis immediate acclaim when it was published in 1920. It remains one of the essential texts of the American scene. Lewis Mumford observed: "In Main Street an American had at last written of our life with something of the intellectual rigor and critical detachment that had seemed so cruel and unjustified [in Charles Dickens and Matthew Arnold]. Young people had grown up in this environment, suffocated, stultified, helpless, but unable to find any reason for their spiritual discomfort. Mr. Lewis released them."

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Main Street (1920) is Sinclair Lewis' most significant work, and along with Babbitt, established him as the premier critic and satirist of small town America in the early 2oth century. Set in the 1910's and spanning the First World War and the onset of Prohibition, the story centers on the frustrations of Carol Milford, a liberal free spirit from St. Paul, Minnesota, who marries Will Kennicott, a doctor from Gopher Prairie, who persuades her to settle there. Stunned by the town's conservative backward ways and lack of beauty, she gamely joins in and tries to liven things up and bring about progressive change, only to meet with derision from the in crowd. She manages to find companionship outside her class, but these connections are gradually broken. Reaching bottom, she leaves her husband and moves to Washington, DC, but eventually returns, disappointed but undefeated. Not surprisingly, the book created a backlash when it was published; it was banned in Alexandria, MN. Some thought it exceptionally bleak and humorless. Today it is listed number 68 by the Modern Library on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

The book that first established Sinclair Lewis’s reputation as an important writer is both a satire and an affectionate portrait of Gopher Prairie, a typical American town, which was undoubtedly suggested by Sauk Centre, Minnesota, where Lewis was born. The heroine, Carol Kennicott, chafes at the dullness and sterility of her existence as the wife of the local doctor, and she tries unsuccessfully to make the townspeople conscious of culture and refinement. For a time, she leaves to lead her own life but eventually returns to make a kind of peace with ‘Main Street.’ The novel aroused considerable controversy when it was first published in 1920. Meredith Nicholson attacked it in ‘Let Main Street Alone!’ (1921) and Carolyn Wells burlesqued it in Ptomaine Street, The Tale of Warble Petticoat (1921). A decade after its publication in 1930, Sinclair Lewis became the first writer from the United States to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "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 society and capitalist values, as well as for their strong characterizations of modern working women.

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Main Street is a classic satirical novel written by Sinclair Lewis and published in 1920. The book centers around Carol Milford, a free-spirited young woman from Saint Paul Minnesota who marries a doctor from a small town. When Carol moves to the small town she sets out to reform it but finds it to be a near impossible task. Sinclair Lewis was a prominent American author in the 20th century. Lewis's books are noted for their insightful depictions of American capitalism and materialism. Lewis became the first American writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. With novels such as Main Street, Babbitt, and Arrowsmith, Lewis remains a popular author today.

Carol Milford is an exuberant, liberal-hearted woman who marries a man from a small town. After they marry they settle in his home-town, Gopher Prairie, which Carol finds narrow and ugly. She throws herself into reforming the town, but is met only with derision by her own class. She decides to leave, but finds that the world outside is just as flawed as Gopher Prairie. She remains uncowed, however, declaring "I do not admit that dish-washing is enough to satisfy all women!"

Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951), better known as Sinclair Lewis, 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, " there was ever a novelist among us with an authentic call to the trade. it is this red-haired tornado from the Minnesota wilds."

Carol Milford is an exuberant, liberal-hearted woman who marries a man from a small town. After they marry they settle in his home-town, Gopher Prairie, which Carol finds narrow and ugly. She throws herself into reforming the town, but is met only with derision by her own class. She decides to leave, but finds that the world outside is just as flawed as Gopher Prairie. She remains uncowed, however, declaring "I do not admit that dish-washing is enough to satisfy all women!"

Main Street is a classic American fiction novel by Sinclair Lewis that sees Carol Milford as a liberal, free-spirited young woman, reared in the metropolis of Minneapolis. She marries Will Kennicott, a doctor, who is a small-town boy at heart. When they marry, Will convinces her to live in his home-town of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota. Carol is appalled at the backwardness of Gopher Prairie. But her disdain for the town’s physical ugliness and smug conservatism compels her to reform it. Carol Milford, the daughter of a judge, grew up in Mankato, Minnesota and became an orphan in her teens. In college, she reads a book on village improvement in a sociology class and begins to dream of redesigning villages and towns. After college, she attends a library school in Chicago and is exposed to radical ideas and lifestyles. She becomes a librarian in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the state capital, but finds the work unrewarding. She marries Will Kennicott, a doctor, who is a small-town boy at heart. When they marry, Will convinces her to live in his home-town of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, a town modeled on Sauk Centre, Minnesota, the author's birthplace. Carol immediately sets about her plans to remake Gopher Prairie. But she is filled with disdain for the town's physical ugliness and smug conservatism. She speaks with its members about progressive changes, joins women's clubs, distributes literature, and holds a party to liven up Gopher Prairie's inhabitants. Despite her ineffective efforts, she is constantly derided by the leading cliques. She finds comfort and companionship with a variety of social outsiders in the town, but these companions all fail to live up to her expectations. After a political meeting of the Nonpartisan League is broken up by local authorities, Carol leaves her husband and moves for a time to Washington, D.C., to become a clerk in a wartime government agency. She eventually returns. Nevertheless, Carol does not feel defeated: I do not admit that Main Street is as beautiful as it should be! I do not admit that Gopher Prairie is greater or more generous than Europe! I do not admit that dish-washing is enough to satisfy all women! I may not have fought the good fight, but I have kept the faith.