Main Street Mass market paperbound - 2008

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis is a satirical novel concerning small town America. The story follows Carol Milford, a liberal and free-spirited woman, as she marries Dr. William Kennicott and settles in his hometown of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota. Upon arrival, Carol is shocked by the conservatism and general backwardness of Gopher Prairie—which is loosely based on Lewis’ hometown of Sauk Centre, Minnesota. The residents of Gopher Prairie seem more interested in gossip than larger cultural or social issues, which frustrates Carol. In various attempts to reform the town, she implements one improvement project after another, all of them ending in failure. In the end, Carol realizes that her frustrations with the individuals of the town should really have been directed towards its institutions and that although she was been beaten, she has kept the faith. Lewis initially seems to be attacking his small town roots in the novel, but his satire is double-edged; Main Street is not only a critique of simple townspeople, but also of the superficial intellectuals who look down on them.

Main Street was not expected to be a commercial success. Lewis anticipated selling 10,000 copies; Harcourt, Brace and Howe anticipated 20,000. In the first six months of 1921, Main Street sold over 180,000 copies. Main Street is ranked 68th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century. The novel was initially awarded the Pulitzer Prize for literature that year, but the Board of Trustees overturned the decision and gave the prize to Edith Wharton for The Age of Innocence instead. (In 1925, Lewis rejected the Pulitzer Prize for Arrowsmith because he felt that he had deserved the prize for Main Street.) 

Details

• Title Main Street
• Author Sinclair Lewis; Introduction by George Killough
• Binding Mass Market Paperbound
• Edition Reprint
• Pages 480
• Volumes 1
• Language ENG
• Publisher Signet Book, New York
• Date 2008
• Features Bibliography, Price on Product - Canadian
• ISBN 9780451530981 / 0451530985
• Weight 0.52 lbs (0.24 kg)
• Dimensions 6.87 x 4.29 x 1.03 in (17.45 x 10.90 x 2.62 cm)
• Reading level 1010
• Themes
  • Demographic Orientation: Rural
  • Demographic Orientation: Small Town
• Library of Congress subjects Domestic fiction, Satire
• Library of Congress Catalog Number 2009290194
• Dewey Decimal Code FIC