Birthday Book Recs 23/50 : Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
Birthday Book Recs: 23/50
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
I read Main Street maybe 25 years ago and was completely hooked because despite it being 80 years old at the time (it was published in 1920), its social commentary felt very fresh. But it also felt a million miles away from where I was living at the time (the Upper West Side), so it felt like a bit of escapism. Fast forward to 2022 when I read Babbitt, also by Sinclair Lewis, and the cultural atmosphere felt even *more* like the 1920s. (Take a peek at my last post about Mrs. Dalloway to see what I mean.) Lewis, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930, had a particular interest in the genesis and development of American cities and how “small town” mentalities can be juxtaposed with attempts at cosmopolitan attitudes (and I suppose globalization too). I share this interest, as does my dad who in the past few years has done a bit of a deep dive on American “proletarian” authors for his own writing projects. (You can scroll down to see a text with some recs he sent me a few years back just as he was getting started.)
100 years is always a good barometer for understanding how things and places have changed (or not). Main Street is a perfect starting point.
{PS Check out this awesome cover art of a first edition of Main Street below. Could be yours for 150 buckeroos…}
You can find all my 50th Birthday Book Recommendations HERE.
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