Sinclair Lewis [1885-1951] Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

"The trouble with this country is that there are too many people going about saying
'The trouble with this country is . . .'."

          B I O
          t e x t
          h e r e

Sinclair Lewis was born in 1885 in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, and graduated from Yale University in 1908. His college career was interrupted by various part-time occupations, including a period working at the Helicon Home Colony, Upton Sinclair’s socialist experiment in New Jersey. He worked for some years as a free lance editor and journalist, during which time he published several minor novels. But with the publication of Main Street (1920), which sold half a million copies, he achieved wide recognition. This was followed by the two novels considered by many to be his finest, Babbitt (1922) and Arrowsmith (1925), which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1926 (which Lewis declined). In 1930, following Elmer Gantry (1927) and Dodsworth (1929), Sinclair Lewis became the first American author to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. This was the apogee of his literary career, and in the period from Ann Vickers (1933) to the posthumously published World So Wide (1951) Lewis wrote ten novels that reveal the progressive decline of his creative powers. From Main Street to Stockholm, a collection of his letters, was published in 1952, and The Man from Main Street, a collection of essays, in 1953. During his last years Sinclair Lewis wandered extensively in Europe, and after his death in Rome in 1951 his ashes were returned to his birthplace.
In September 1905, Upton Sinclair used some of his book royalties to establish a socialist community at Eaglewood, New Jersey (one of the members was Sinclair Lewis); the experiment lasted four months, when the facility was burned down by opponents.

"Legend of The Car" [7/2012] book based on "Free Air" by Sinclair Lewis & Lin Stone (Author, Photographer)
http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Car-Lin-Stone-ebook/dp/B008LXQXWC/

"Main Street: The Story of Carol Kennicott" [1920]
filmed as "Main Street" [1923] and as "I Married A Doctor" [1936]

"Babbitt: An American Life [1993] by Glen A. Love
http://www.amazon.com/Babbitt-American-Twaynes-Masterwork-Studies/dp/0805785620/
http://www.amazon.com/Babbitt-American-Twaynes-Masterwork-Studies/dp/0805794409/

"Arrowsmith" [1925] won 1926 pulitzer, but Sinclair Lewis declined the award
a physician finds his commitment to the ideals of his profession tested by the cynicism and opportunism that he encounters in private practice, public health work, and scientific research; the novel reaches its climax as its hero faces his greatest challenges amid a deadly outbreak of plague on a Caribbean island.
filmed as "Arrowsmith" [1931], "Robert Montgomery Presents: Arrowsmith" [1950], "Medallion Theatre: The Decision At Arrowsmith" [1953], "Ponds Theater: Arrowsmith" [1954], "Matinee Theatre: Arrowsmith" [1955], "The DuPont Show of The Month: Arrowsmith" [1960], and "Arrowsmith" [1997]

"Elmer Gantry" [1927] filmed as "Elmer Gantry" [1960]
brutal depiction of a hypocritical preacher in relentless pursuit of worldly pleasure and power
"The Book That Shook The Nation" . . . "Now Daringly Brought To The Screen"

"The Man Who Knew Coolidge: Being The Soul of Lowell Schmaltz, Constructive and Nordic Citizen" [1928]

"Dodsworth" [1929 novel]
a wealthy, retired Midwestern automobile manufacturer travels through Europe with his increasingly restless wife; the novel intimately explores
the unraveling of their marriage, while pitting the proud heritage of European culture against the rude vigor of American commercialism
filmed as "Dodsworth" [1936], "The Prudential Family Playhouse: Dodsworth" [1950], "Ponds Theater: Dodsworth" [1954], and
"Producers' Showcase: Dodsworth" [1956]

"It Can't Happen Here" [June 1935]
"Not only [Lewis's] most important book but one of the most important books ever produced in this country." — The New Yorker

"Shadow On The Land" TV movie [ABC-TV Dec 1968]
Alternate history, with patriotic freedom fighters struggling against a fascist dictatorship in a near-future U.S.A.
Directed by Richard C. Sarafian; adapted by Nedrick Young, based on the novel "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis;
starring Jackie Cooper, John Forsythe, Gene Hackman, Marc Strange, Carol Lynley & Janice Rule
poster or VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • credits at IMDb

Short story: "Art and The Woman" (1907)
Short story: "That Passage In Isaiah" (1907)
Short story: "The Way to Rome" (1911)
Short story: "The Other Side of The House" (1915)
Short story: "Commutation: $9.17" (1915)
Short story: "If I Were Boss--The Early Business Stories of Sinclair Lewis" (1916)
Short story: "I'm A Stranger Here Myself" (1916)
Short story: "He Loved His Country" (1916)
Short story: "Honestly, If Possible" (1916)
Short story: "Twenty-Four Hours in June" (1917)
Short story: "The Innocents" (1917)
Short story: "A Story With A Happy Ending" (1917)
Short story: "Hobohemia" (1917)
Short story: "Young Man Axelbrod" (1917)
Short story: "A Woman By Candlelight" (1917)
Short story: "The Whisperer" (1917)
Short story: "The Hidden People" (1917)
Short story: "Joy-Joy" (1917)
Short story: "The Ghost Patrol" (1917) filmed as The Ghost Patrol (1923), "The Ford Theatre Hour:
The Ghost Patrol (#3.22)" (1951), "The Ford Theatre Hour: The Ghost Patrol (#3.14)" (1951))
Short story: "Getting His Bit" (1918)
Short story: "The Swept Hearth" (1918)
Short story: "Jazz" (1918)
Short story: "Gladvertising" (1918)
Short story: "Shadowy Glass" (1918)
Short story: "An Invitation To Tea" (1918)
Short story: "Slip It To 'Em" (1918)
Short story: "A Rose For Little Eva" (1918)
Short story: "The Willow Walk" (1918)
Short story: "Moths In The Arc Light" (1919)
Short story: "The Cat of The Stars" [1919]
Short story: "The Kidnaped Memorial" (1919)
Short story: "The Watcher Across The Road" (1919)
Short story: "Things" (1919)
Short story: "Speed" (1919)
Short story: "The Shrimp-Colored Blouse" (1919)
Short story: "The Enchanted Boat" (1919)
Short story: "Danger--Run Slow" (1919)
Short story: "Bronze Bars" (1919)
Short story: "Habeas Corpus" (1920)
Short story: "Way I See It" (1920)
Short story: "The Good Sport"(1920)
Short story: "A Matter of Business" (1921)
Short story: "Number Seven To Sagapoose" (1921)
Short story: "The Post-Mortem Murder" (1921)
Short story: "The Hack Driver" (1923)
Short story: "He Had A Brother" (1929)
Short story: "There Was A Prince" (1929)
Short story: "Elizabeth, Kitty, and Jane" (1929)
Short story: "Dear Editor" (1929)
Short story: "What A Man!" (1929)
Short story: "Keep Out of The Kitchen" (1929)
Short story: "Noble Experiment" (1930)
Short story: "Youth" (1930)
Short story: "Go East, Young Man: Sinclair Lewis on Class in America" (1930) w/Sally E. Perry
Short story: "Little Bear Bongo" (1930) filmed as Fun & Fancy Free (1947), Bongo (1947))
Short story: "Let's Play King" (1931) filmed as Majestät auf Abwegen (1958), Newly Rich (1931))
Short story: "Ring Around A Rosy" (1931)
Short story: "Pajamas" (1931)
Short story: "City of Mercy" (1931)
Short story: "Land" (1931)
Short story: "Dollar Chasers" (1931)
Short story: "The Hippocratic Oath" (1935)
Short story: "Proper Gander" (1935)
Short story: "Onward, Sons of Ingersoll!" (1935)

best-available red dustjacket for 'Selected Short Stories of Sinclair Lewis' 1935 collection

"Selected Short Stories of Sinclair Lewis" [1935]
With An Introduction by James W. Tuttleton
includes 11 short stories: "The Ghost Patrol" (1917); "Young Man Axelbrod" (1917); "The Willow Walk" (1918; "Things" (1919); "Speed" (1919); "The Kidnaped Memorial" (1919); "Moths In The Arc Light" (1919); "The Hack Driver" (1923); "Go East, Young Man" (1930); "Let's Play King" (1931); and "A Letter From The Queen" (1935)
Ivan R. Dee/Elephant 8½x5½ pb [2/90] out of print/used
Doubleday, Doran 7¾x5¾ hardcover [1937] out of print/40+ used

Short story: "A Letter From The Queen" (1935)
filmed as "General Electric Theater: A Letter from the Queen (#4.23)" (1956))
Short story: "The Man Who Cheated Time" (1941)
Short story: "Manhattan Madness" (1941)
Short story: "They Had Magic Then!" (1941)
Short story: "All Wives Are Angels" (1943)
Short story: "Nobody To Write About" (1943)
Short story: "Harri" (1943)
Short story: "Green Eyes, A Handbook of Jealousy" (1943)

If I Were Boss / Early Business Stories collection by Sinclair Lewis

"If I Were Boss: The Early Business Stories of Sinclair Lewis" [1997]
Edited & With An Introduction by Anthony Di Renzo
Southern Illinois Univ Press 9x6 pb [11/97] for $16.59
Southern Illinois Univ Press 9x6¾ hardcover [11/97] out of print/used
Total of fifteen short stories published from 1915 to 1921, none previously collected: four stories feature America's premier advertising guru and unbridled charlatan Lancelot Todd: "Getting His Bit", "Jazz", "Slip It To 'Em", and "Snappy Display"; the other eleven tales are: "A Matter of Business", "A Story With A Happy Ending", "Bronze Bars", "Commutation: $9.17", "The Good Sport", "Honestly - If Possible", "If I Were Boss", "Nature, Inc.", "Number Seven To Sagapoose", "Way I See It", and "The Whisperer"

Minnesota Stories of Sinclair Lewis collection edited by Sally E. Parry

"The Minnesota Stories of Sinclair Lewis" [2005]
Edited & With An Introduction by Sally E. Parry
Borealis Books 9x6 pb [6/2005] for $17.96
Includes fifteen short stories: "A Matter of Business", "A Rose For Little Eva", "A Theory of Values", "A Woman By Candlelight", "All Wives Are Angels", "Be Brisk With Babbitt", "The Hack Driver", "He Loved His Country", "The Kidnaped Memorial", "Main Street Goes To War", "Main Street's Been Paved!", "Minnesota, The Norse State", "Nobody To Write About", "The Tamarack Lover", and "Things"

Poem: "Dim Hours of Dusk" [1907]
Poem: "The Ultra-Modern" [1907]
Poem: "Disillusion" [1907]
Poem: "Summer In Winter" [1909]
Poem: "A Canticle of Great Lovers" [1912]

Article: "Nature Incorporated" (1915) filmed as Nature Incorporated (1916))
Article: "For The Zenda Bunch" (1917)
Article: "Spiritualist Vaudeville" (1918)

Article: "Adventures In Autobumming: Gasoline Gypsies" (1919)
Article: "Adventures In Autobumming: Want A Life??" (1919)
Article: "Adventures In Autobumming: The Great American Frying Pan" (1920)

Pamphlet: "John Dos Passos' Manhattan Transfer" book review [1926]
http://www.amazon.com/John-Dos-Passos-Manhattan-transfer/dp/B00087S8JU/

Book: "Cheap and Contented Labor: The Picture of A Southern Mill Town in 1929" [1929]

Book: "From Main Street To Stockholm: Letters of Sinclair Lewis, 1919-1930" [1952]
Edited by Alfred Harcourt & Oliver Harrison

Book: "Selected Letters of Sinclair Lewis" [1965] Edited by John J. Koblas & Dave Page

Book: "Minnesota Diary, 1942-1946" [2000] Edited by George Killough
http://www.amazon.com/Minnesota-Diary-1942-46-Geroge-Killough/dp/089301219X/

(1919) Stage: Wrote "Hobohemia". Greenwich Village Theatre: 8 Feb 1919-Apr 1919 (closing date unknown/89 performances). Cast: Mona Bruns, Ralph Bunker, Lois Frances Clark, Ruby Craven, Theodore Doucet, Hilda Englund, Grace Morse, Gladys Plinge, Beatrice Prentice, Geoffrey C. Stein, Noel Tearle, Frank M. Thomas, Helen Westley, Phil White. Produced by Frank Conroy.

Hobohemia [Play, Original] Written by Sinclair Lewis Feb 08, 1919 - Apr 1919
http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=8836

(1922) Stage: Wrote source material (novel) for "Main Street", produced on Broadway. Drama. Book adapted by Harvey J. O'Higgins and Harriet Ford. National Theatre: 5 Oct 1921-Dec 1921 (closing date unknown/86 performances). Cast: Boyd Agin, Charles P. Bates, Everett Butterfield, Ruth G. Clark, William T. Clark, Helen Cromwell, Elmer Grandin (as "Ezra Stowbody"), Clifford Heckinger, Hilda Helstrom, Marion Hutchins, Norval Keedwell (as "Erik Valborg"), Eva Lang, Bert Melville, McKay Morris, Maude Nolan, Marie Pettes, Marvee Snow, Alma Tell. Produced by Lee Shubert and J.J. Shubert. NOTE: Filmed as I Married a Doctor

Main Street [Play, Drama, Original] Based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis Oct 05, 1921 - Dec 1921
http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=12655

Elmer Gantry [Play, Original] Based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis Aug 07, 1928 - Sep 1928
http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=10653

Dodsworth [Play, Drama, Original] Based on a novel by Sinclair Lewis Feb 24, 1934 - Jun 30, 1934
http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=11841
Dodsworth [Play, Drama, Original] From the novel by Sinclair Lewis Aug 20, 1934 - Jan 1935
http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=11889

Jayhawker [Play, Comedy, Original] Written by Sinclair Lewis Nov 05, 1934 - Nov 1934
http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=11934

It Can't Happen Here [Play, Drama, Original] Written by Sinclair Lewis from his novel Oct 26, 1936 - Jan 1937
http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=12232

"Bethel Merriday" episode [NBC-TV Jan 1950] of "The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse" TV series
hour-long live TV show directed by Delbert Mann; adapted by William Kendall Clarke; starring Grace Kelly, Ralph Longley, Katherine Marshall,
Katherine Meskill, Mary Patton, Ivan F. Simpson, Frank Stephens, Warren Stevens, Oliver Thorndike & Mary K. Wells
video or kinescope not available • credits at IMDb

"Bethel Merriday" episode [ABC-TV Dec 1950] of "Pulitzer Prize Playhouse" TV series
hour-long live TV show narrated by Elmer Davis; starring Barbara Bel Geddes, Romney Brent, Alexander Clark, Lulu Belle Clarke,
Rita Duncan, Logan Field, Betty Garde, Phillip Reed, Gaby Rodgers, Doris Smith & Graham Velsey
video or kinescope not available • credits at IMDb

"Good Neighbor" stageplay [1941] by Jack Levin
Directed by Sinclair Lewis; one performance 21 October 1941 at Windsor Theatre, New York City
partial credits at Internet Broadway Database

Gantry [Musical, Original] Based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis Feb 14, 1970 - Feb 14, 1970
http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3507

Strangers [Play, Original] The role of Sinclair based on Sinclair Lewis Mar 04, 1979 - Mar 11, 1979
http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3927

"The Unpainted Woman" [1919] /tt0010824/ wrote story
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unpainted_Woman

"Camille" [1926 silent short]
Described as a home movie, with crew credits incomplete; produced & directed by Ralph Barton; actors include Anita Loos (as Camille), Sherwood Anderson, Ethel Barrymore, Richard Barthelmess, Charlie Chaplin, Clarence Darrow, Lili Darvas, Theodore Dreiser, Dorothy Gish, Sacha Guitry, Rex Ingram, Serge Kousevitzky, Alfred Knopf, Georges Lepape, Sinclair Lewis, W. Somerset Maugham, H.L. Mencken, Ferenc Molnár, George Jean Nathan, Chauncey Olcott, Aileen Pringle, Yvonne Printemps, Max Reinhardt, Paul Robeson, and Charles G. Shaw
incomplete credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

"Arrowsmith"
[Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists Dec 1931]
Directed by John Ford [1894-1973]; based on the 1923 Sinclair Lewis novel; starring Ronald Colman,
Helen Hayes, Richard Bennett, A.E. Anson, Clarence Brooks & Myrna Loy; Oscar nominations
for Best Picture, Best Script/Adaptation, Best Cinematography & Best Art Direction
full credits from IMDb

"Bongo" [Disney Sept 1947] 30-minute cartoon /tt0039207/ story by Sinclair Lewis

"Bethel Merriday" [1950] (play) episode of The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse (TV Series

"Jiminy Cricket Presents Bongo" [1955] episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (TV Series

"A Letter from the Queen" [1956] episode of General Electric Theater (TV Series)

"Arrowsmith" [1960] (1960) ... (novel)episode of The DuPont Show of the Month (TV Series) (novel - 1 )

	"The Greatest Hits of Sinclair Lewis" for Kindle [2009] Kindle Edition from Douglas Editions [5/2009] for $1.00 {sic} contains "The Trail of The Hawk" [1914], "Main Street" [1920], and "Babbitt" [1922]
	"The Essential Sinclair Lewis Collection" for Kindle [2009] Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [6/2009] for $4.99 contains "Our Mr. Wrenn" [1914], "The Trail of The Hawk" [1914], "The Job" [1917], "The Innocents" [1917], "Free Air" [1919], "Main Street" [1920], and "Babbitt" [1922]
	"The Sinclair Lewis Collection" for Kindle [2009] Kindle Edition from Halcyon Press Ltd. [8/2009] for $1.99 {sic} contains the same seven novels as 'Essential Collection' just above
	"Sinclair Lewis's Collected Works" for Kindle [2013] Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services (Seng Books) [7/2013] for 99¢ {sic} contains 8 short stories & 3 novels: "The Ghost Patrol" [1917], "Young Man Axelbrod" [1917], "The Willow Walk" [1918], "The Cat of The Stars" [1919], "Things" [1919], "Speed" [1919], "The Kidnaped Memorial" [1919], "Moths In The Arc Light" [1919], "Free Air" [1919 novel], "Main Street" [1920 novel], and "Babbitt" [1922 novel]
	"Sinclair Lewis: Complete Collection" for Kindle [9/2014] This mis-named Kindle ebook contains just "Babbit" and "Main Street" for $2.99

Sinclair Lewis Remembered book by edited by Gary Scharnhorst & Matthew Hofer

"Sinclair Lewis Remembered" [2012]
Edited by Gary Scharnhorst & Matthew Hofer
Kindle Edition from Univ Alabama Press [9/2012] for $39.96 {sic]
Univ Alabama Press 9x6 hardcover [9/2012] for $44.96
contains 117 articles/essays by relatives, friends, authors & critics including Louis Adamic; {niece} Isabel Lewis Agrell; Leonard Bacon; William Rose Benét (2); Charles Breasted (3); Heywood Broun; Fanny Butcher (8); James Branch Cabell (3); Henry Seidel Canby; Kitty Carlisle; publisher Bennett Cerf; Barnaby Conrad; George H. Doran; Edna Ferber; Morris Fishbein (2); Emile Gauvreau (2); Ramon Guthrie (3); Alfred Harcourt (5); Samuel Harkness; John Hersey; Frazier Hunt (2); Grace Hegger Lewis (4); Frederick Manfred; H.L. Mencken; George Jean Nathan (5); Kathleen Norris; William Lyon Phelps; Samuel Putnam; Budd Schulberg; George Seldes (3); Vincent Sheean (2); Upton Sinclair; H. Allen Smith; Harrison Smith (4); Albert Payson Terhune; Dorothy Thompson (3); Michele A. Vaccariello; Carl Van Doren; William E. Woodward (2); and actress Fay Wray

Family & Friends
Harry Sinclair 'Red' Lewis was born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota in 1885; he won (but declined) the Pulitzer Prize
in 1926 and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930; he died in Rome, Italy in 1951.

first wife Grace Livingston Hegger Lewis [1887-1981] - married 1914, divorced 1925
son Wells Lewis [1917–44] - killed in action in WWII

second wife Dorothy Thompson Bard Lewis Kopf [1893-1961] - 2nd marriage 1928, separated 1937, divorced 1942
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Thompson

son & executor Michael Lewis [1930-75]
daughter-in-law Bernadette Nanse Lewis []
grandson John Paul Lewis []
grandson Gregory Claude Lewis []
second daughter-in-law Valerie Cardew Lewis []
granddaughter Lesley Lewis []

Lewis's mistress Marcella Powers [1921?-??] - together circa 1939-47
http://www.stcloudstate.edu/news/newsrelease/default.aspx?pubID=3&issueID=25745&storyID=30792

Visiting this webpage from outside the U.S.A.? It is possible to make purchases from these coded Amazon (USA) links
via other Amazon sites: just follow these instructions.

	"Sinclair Lewis Remembered" [1996] by {niece} Isabel Lewis Agrell self-publd 11x8½ spiral-bound pb [1996] out of print/scarce
	"The Rise of Sinclair Lewis, 1920–1930" [1996] by James M. Hutchisson Penn State Univ Press 9x6 pb [2/2001] for $26.15 Penn State Univ Press 9½x6½ hardcover [5/96] for $60.75
	"Sinclair Lewis: Rebel From Main Street" biography [2002] by Richard Lingeman Borealis Books 9x6¼ pb [6/2005] for $22.46 Random House 9½x6½ hardcover [1/2002] out of print/50+ used
	"Santa Fe and Taos: The Writer's Era, 1916-1941" [1982] by Marta Weigle & Kyle Fiore, Illustrations by Willard F. Clark Visiting and resident authors examined include Mary Austin, Witter Bynner, Willa Cather, poet Robert Frost, John Galsworthy, Spud Johnson, Oliver La Farge, D.H. Lawrence, Sinclair Lewis, Haniel Long, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Carl Sandburg, and Thornton Wilder Sunstone Press 9x6 pb [2/2008] for $22.00 Ancient City Press hardcover [12/82] out of print/many used
	"Sinclair Lewis: A Descriptive Bibliography" [1997] by Stephen R. Pastore Univ Scranton Press 9x6 hardcover [8/2009] for $41.72 Denis McDonnell 9x6¼ hardcover [1997] out of print/used

	"Sinclair Lewis: An American Life" [1961] by Mark Schorer McGraw-Hill 9x6½ hardcover [1961] out of print/100+ used McGraw-Hill 9½x6¾ hardcover [1961] out of print/50+ used
	"Sinclair Lewis: A Collection of Critical Essays" [1962] Edited by Mark Schorer includes twenty essays by Sherwood Anderson, Richard P. Blackmur, Robert Cantwell, Malcolm Cowley, Ford Madox Ford, E.M. Forster, Maxwell Geismar, Alfred Kazin, Joseph Wood Krutch, Walter Lippmann, Robert Morss Lovett, H.L. Mencken, Geoffrey Moore, Lewis Mumford, Vernon L. Parrington, Constance Rourke, editor Schorer, Rebecca West, T.K. Whipple, and Edmund Wilson Prentice Hall 8x5½ pb [6/62] out of print/used Prentice Hall 7¾x5¾ hardcover [6/62] out of print/many used
	"Sinclair Lewis (American Writers Series #27)" [1963] by Mark Schorer Minnesota Archive Editions 7¾x5¼ pamphlet [4/63] for $22.39

Spirit of America Bookstore Sinclair Lewis[1885-1951]

Spirit of America Bookstore
Sinclair Lewis
[1885-1951]