Sinclair Lewis: The 1920s and the Shaping of American Identity

"SINCLAIR LEWIS: THE 1920s AND THE SHAPING OF AMERICAN IDENTITY argues the importance of words, ideas, and values in sculpting twentieth-century identity. Literary scholars should, given the perspective of historians, allot more weight to Lewis's contribution to the formation of middle-class ideology. Lewis (1885-1951) was a phenomenon in the 1920s. Novelist and critic E.M. Forster in 1922 caught the draw: "I persist in exclaiming, for what Mr. Lewis has done for myself and thousands of others, is to lodge a piece of a continent in our imaginations." Lewis had just published BABBITT, two years after stunning the nation with MAIN STREET. Three more powerful novels followed: ARROWSMITH, ELMER GANTRY, and DODSWORTH. Contemporary reviews, criticism across decades, and a century of literary and historical scholarship tell an intriguing story. Here, Agran encourages literary scholars and all students of American culture to recognize that Lewis's reception in the twenties was formidable because of his sensitivity to the nation's history, its promise, and at points its troubling trajectory. By broadening the perspective, Agran demonstrates why the Nobel Award recipient's novels resonated so strongly one hundred years ago and why his books still sell--he speaks to identity in the United States with a style all his own. This study will interest scholars and educators in literature, history, and American studies; students; and readers intrigued by twentieth-century culture"-- Provided by publisher.

Edward Gale Agran is professor emeritus of History at Wilmington College. He holds a PhD in American History from the University of Wisconsin. Agran is the author of "TOO GOOD A TOWN" WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE, COMMUNITY, AND THE EMERGING RHETORIC OF MIDDLE AMERICA and HERBERT HOOVER AND THE COMMODIFICATION OF MIDDLE-CLASS AMERICA: AN AMERICAN PROMISE. He resides in Iowa City, Iowa.