'Babbitt respected bigness in anything: in mountains, jewels, muscles, wealth or words.'
First published in 1922, Babbitt is a scathing satirical novel that wittily condemns the vacuous and superficial lives of the middle class in early twentieth-century America.
George F. Babbitt, a successful real estate agent in the fictional city of Zenith in the Midwest, is openly conservative: he embraces proper social etiquette, business success and traditional values. But secretly, a disillusion with the American Dream begins to take root. As he begins to question the emptiness of his life, Babbitt goes to extreme lengths to uncover a novel sense of personal freedom. But when the pressures of societal expectation and fear of nonconformity threaten to destroy the life he once loved, Babbitt is forced to reconsider his actions. A masterclass in satire and literary realism, Babbitt remains an American classic for the ages.
Sinclair Lewis (1885 – 1951) was an American novelist, short story writer and dramatist. In 1930, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. His work often critiqued capitalism and the materialist nature of inter-war America, and is still widely read to this day.