Sinclair Lewis

Harry Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) was an enormously successful author both commercially and critically, but despite being the first writer from the US to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930, he has been criminally underrated – until recently. Born in Minnesota, he graduated from Yale in 1908 and pursued his vocation, writing for newspapers and magazines and publishing potboilers until releasing his first serious novels, including 1917’s The Job. His stellar success came with the satirical novels Main Street (1920) and Babbitt (1922) and several of his works were adapted for film. His insightful criticism of American capitalism, mores and politics (not least his uncanny 1935 dystopia It Can't Happen Here), and his representations of modern working women mark him out as a truly far-sighted novelist of our time.