Sinclair Lewis Biography
American Novelist Best Known for Arrowsmith
Novelist Sinclair Lewis is famous for his books Arrowsmith and Babbitt. He was the first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1930. He was considered one of America's best writers, at the same time, the most rebellious. Lewis is known for his vivid descriptions and brilliant narratives.
Early Life of Sinclair Lewis
Harry Sinclair Lewis was born on February 7, 1885, in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, the third son of a country doctor. He was a high-spirited and imaginative child who grew up in a small Protestant community. When he was 13 years old, he ran away from home to become a drummer boy in the Spanish-American War. His father caught up with him at the railroad station and brought him home.
Writing Life
After Lewis graduated from Yale University, he spent the next few years struggling to make a living as a newspaper reporter, freelance writer and book editor. By the time he was 30, Lewis had become a full-time writer, but it was not until his sixth novel, Main Street, was published that he became successful. By then he was 35. The satire on life in a small, conservative town in the Midwest which he vividly depicted caught the public imagination and became an immediate bestseller.
Lewis followed Main Street with Babbitt, about the Kennicotts, a small-town family, who have just arrived in Gopher Prairie, in Minnesota. The story has become a classic satire, a caricature of American middle-class life, which highlights the dangers of conforming, that is, trying to be like everyone else.
For his novel, Arrowsmith, Lewis was awarded a Pulitzer in 1926, which he rejected. He explained that since the award was meant for books that celebrate American wholesomeness, and his novels criticize American lifestyles, he should not be awarded the prize.
Lewis as a Socialist
Sinclair Lewis was a socialist, who disliked the establishment. His Nobel Prize award marked the height of his achievement. He continued to write but never again achieved the success of his novels of the 1920s. He died at the age of 65, January 10, 1951.
"Vast is the power of cities to reclaim the wanderer. More than mountains or the shore-devouring sea, a city retains its character, imperturbable, cynical, holding behind apparent changes its essential purpose." - Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt
Sinclair Lewis Books
- Main Street, 1920
- Babbitt, 1922
- Arrowsmith, 1925
- Mantrap, 1926
- Elmer Gantry, 1927
- Dodsworth, 1929
- It Can't Happen Here, 1935
- Gideon Planish, 1943
- Kingsblood, 1947
- World So Wide, 1951 (Posthumous)
Sources:
Goring, Rosemary, editor. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994
McGovern, Una, editor. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap, 2002
Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. Carlton Books Limited, 1997
Sinclair Lewis, American Writer
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