The Rise of Sinclair Lewis, 1920-1930

Penn State Series in the History of the Book

by James M. Hutchisson

The Rise of Sinclair Lewis examines the making of Lewis’ s best-selling novels Main Street , Babbitt , Arrowsmith , and Elmer Gantry ―their sources, composition, publication, and subsequent critical reception. Drawing on thousands of pages of material from Lewis’s notes, outlines, and drafts―most of it never before published―James M. Hutchisson shows how Lewis selected usable materials and shaped them, through his unique vision, into novels that reached and remained part of the American literary imagination. Hutchisson also describes for the first time how large a role was played by Lewis’s wives, assistants, and publishers in determining the final shape of his books.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1996

About the author

James M. Hutchisson, Charleston, South Carolina, is professor of English and director of graduate study in English at The Citadel. His books include Poe and DuBose Heyward: A Charleston Gentleman and the World of Porgy and Bess, both published by University Press of Mississippi.