Synopses & Reviews
Prosperous and socially prominent, George Babbitt appears to have everything a man could wish: good health, a fine family, and a profitable business in a booming Midwestern city. But the middle-aged real estate agent is shaken from his self-satisfaction by a growing restlessness with the limitations of his life. When a personal crisis forces a reexamination of his values, Babbitt mounts a rebellion against social expectations and#8212; jeopardizing his reputation and business standing as well as his marriage.
Widely considered Sinclair Lewis's greatest novel, this satire of the American social landscape created a sensation upon its 1922 publication. Babbitt's name became an instant and enduring synonym for middle-class complacency, and the strictures of his existence revealed the emptiness of the mainstream vision of success. His story reflects the nature of a conformist society, in which the pressures of maintaining propriety can ultimately cause individuals to lose their place in the world.
Babbitt ranks among the important 20th-century works addressing the struggles of people caught in the machinery of modern life, and it remains ever-relevant as a cautionary tale against clinging to conventional values.
Synopsis
Prosperous and self-satisfied, George Babbitt is forced by a personal catastrophe to reexamine his values and mount a short lived rebellion against public opinion. Considered by many to be Sinclair Lewis' greatest novel, this social satire, set in a Midwestern city during the economic boom years of the early 1920s, depicts the hollow core of the American vision of "success, " and its protagonist's name has become a synonym for middle-class complacency. Unabridged republication of the original (1922) text.
Synopsis
Prosperous and socially prominent, George Babbitt appears to have everything a man could wish. But when a personal crisis forces the middle-aged real estate agent to reexamine his life, Babbitt mounts a rebellion that jeopardizes everything he values. Widely considered Sinclair Lewis's greatest novel, this satire of the American social landscape created a sensation upon its 1922 publication. Babbitt's name became an instant and enduring synonym for middle-class complacency, and his story remains an ever-relevant tale of an individual caught in the machinery of modern life.
Unabridged republication of the classic 1922 edition.
Synopsis
Prosperous and socially prominent, George Babbitt appears to have everything. But when a personal crisis forces the middle-aged real estate agent to reexamine his life, Babbitt mounts a rebellion that jeopardizes everything he values. Widely considered Sinclair Lewis' greatest novel, this satire remains an ever-relevant tale of an individual caught in the machinery of modern life.
Synopsis
A personal crisis jars a middle-aged real estate agent from his complacency in this satire of middle-class American life. Sinclair Lewis' great novel offers a scathing portrait of the consequences of clinging to conventional values.