Main Street: 100th Anniversary Edition
Written by Sinclair Lewis
Narrated by Kitty Hendrix
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Published in 1920, Main Street was Sinclair Lewis’s first big hit. Biographer Mark Schorer wrote: it “was the most sensational event in 20th-century American publishing history, from the point of view both of sales and of public response. The printers could not keep up with the orders, and for a while the publishers had to ration out copies to book-sellers.”
Lewis’s biting satire countered the American myth of wholesome small-town life with a depiction of narrow-minded provincialism with struck a chord – or hit a nerve – with Americans. Based on Lewis’s own experiences growing on Sauk Centre, Minnesota and set in the mid-1910s, it follows Carol Kennicott, who leaves her librarian job and St. Paul, Minnesota to marry Dr. Will Kennicott of Gopher Prairie. Young and optimistic, Carol is dismayed by the town’s drabness and finds the inhabitants conforming and petty. Carol sets out to improve the town, but is met with distrust and derision, and finds herself becoming a pariah.
Sinclair Lewis was in the vanguard of a generation of American writers like Ernest Hemingway. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Willa Cather, Theodore Dreiser who sought more realism in their work. Lewis’s intimate knowledge of small-town America and his gift for creating realistic characters make Main Street a compelling classic still surprisingly relevant today. The racism, religious bigotry, puritanical righteousness, and duplicitous business practices Lewis exposed are with us still. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Lewis’s portrayal of women is surprisingly sensitive. His nuanced descriptions of marriage, and the compromises woman were expected to make, offer both insightful social commentary and convincing realism. And while he is critical of small town hypocrisies, he also finds a level of human connectedness in them lacking in big cities.
Main Street was recommended by the Pulitzer Committee in 1921, but the Trustees of Colombia University overruled the jury. In 1923, “Babbitt” was chosen, but the committee was again overruled by the Trustees. In 1926, he was finally awarded the Pulitzer for “Arrowsmith,” and he turned it down – the first writer to do so. In 1930, he became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The committee, wrote: Main Street exemplifies Lewis’ “vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters.”
Sinclair Lewis
Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) was an American author and playwright. As a child, Lewis struggled to fit in with both his peers and family. He was much more sensitive and introspective than his brothers, so he had a difficult time connecting to his father. Lewis’ troubling childhood was one of the reasons he was drawn to religion, though he would struggle with it throughout most of his young adult life, until he became an atheist. Known for his critical views of American capitalism and materialism, Lewis was often praised for his authenticity as a writer. With over twenty novels, four plays, and around seventy short stories, Lewis was a very prolific author. In 1930, Sinclair Lewis became the first American to receive the Nobel Prize for literature, setting an inspiring precedent for future American writers.
More audiobooks from Sinclair Lewis
Elmer Gantry Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Can't Happen Here Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMain Street Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Elmer Gatry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Main Street (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Main Street
Related audiobooks
Main Street Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 42nd Parallel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51919 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5J.D. Salinger: The Escape Artist Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Big Money Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babbitt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Ántonia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Wives' Tale Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Magnificent Ambersons Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Man of Property Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bridge of San Luis Rey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tomorrow Will Be Better Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Enormous Radio Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sister Carrie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Turmoil (Growth Trilogy Vol 1) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man Who Liked Dickens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Moon and Sixpence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Glimpses of the Moon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEssential Welty: Powerhouse and Petrified Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Job Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bleak House Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMr. and Mrs. Bridge Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Ponder Heart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Shadow-Line Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGood Faith Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5So Big: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death Comes for the Archbishop Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Easter Parade: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Classics For You
The Old Man and the Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Their Eyes Were Watching God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Picture of Dorian Gray: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Complete Sherlock Holmes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Series of Unfortunate Events #1 Multi-Voice, A: The Bad Beginning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frankenstein Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Perks of Being a Wallflower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Crucible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Iliad: A New Translation by Caroline Alexander Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fountainhead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers in the Attic: 40th Anniversary Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Around the World in 80 Days: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Atlas Shrugged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stone Blind: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Kill a Mockingbird Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Schindler's List Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Tale of Two Cities Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5For Whom the Bell Tolls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emma: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Gatsby Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5War & Peace - Volume I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pride and Prejudice: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Thousand Ships: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sense and Sensibility Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/520,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Main Street
6 ratings0 reviews