Babbbitt (alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi 1922; vuoden 1968 painos)

Go into a bookstore these days and often the only book you’ll find by Sinclair Lewis is It Can’t Happen Here, a satirical look at the rise of a fascist regime in America in the 1930s. Lewis’ book enjoys a resurgence every few years as American politics grows polarised, and never more so than following the election of Donald Trump in 2016.

Within weeks of Trump’s inauguration, the main shop window of one of London’s largest bookstores was filled with copies of It Can’t Happen Here. And that’s a pity, because Lewis’ forgotten earlier books, and in particular Babbitt, may offer a greater insight into the Trump era. Babbit and Lewis’ previous work, Main Street, are the reasons he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first American author to receive the honour.

George F. Babbitt is a real estate dealer in the fictional mid-western city of Zenith. His life revolves around his business, his family and his network of friends who he meets through his church and the various clubs he joins — the Elks, the Boosters, and so on. Babbitt sees the world through the eyes of a businessman; if he were to write an autobiography, he might well have entitled it The Art of the Deal. He is not intellectually curious, has no interest in foreign travel, is convinced that his country (and state, and city) are the very best in the whole world. He detests immigrants and labor unions. Does any of this sound familiar?

Babbitt is deeply opinionated and develops a reputation as an orator of sorts, though he has nothing particularly interesting or original to say. In the world of business, and later at home, he lies and cheats with impunity and without remorse.

Babbitt is a particular “American type” and this book, even more than It Can’t Happen Here, offers insights into today’s American president. ( )

Written 95 years ago, still timely. ( )

Excellent writing and witty mocking of the "good ole boy" network. ( )

A big DNF for me! I stuck with it for 105 pages of 464, but it was so dry and boring that I'm not going to waste any more time with this book. It is a satire on 1920's American life and the main character is such an egoist and narcissist that there just isn't anything to draw me to the book. ( )

This book is everything I dislike about literary fiction, and yet it's so darn well written I'm giving it four stars, even though I never would have finished the thing if it wasn't for research purposes. Lewis can WRITE. There's a reason he's remembered as one of the great writers of the 20th century.

Here's the thing about Babbit. He's a horrible person, but he's like people all of us know. The book really centers around a catastrophic mid-life crisis. Babbit is sanctimonious, loud-mouthed, a sexual harrasser, desperate to climb the social ladder. He's largely spineless--he follows whatever crowd holds sway over him. Most of all, we are never intended to like him, but we relate to him in small ways all the same. It was only by the power of Lewis's writing that I stuck with the book, because this really hit on so many tropes that I loathe, especially when it comes to spousal abuse (though Babbit's sin in this regard is mostly in supporting his best friend's abuse/near-murder of his wife) and Babbit's extramarital affair. I mean, I HATED this guy, but I kept reading, and on the last page I genuinely pitied him. This book is an exercise is incredible character development.

One of the reasons I braved this book was due to the social impact it had in the 1920s. In several books from that period, I have come across mentions of people being considered "like Babbit." The book was a bestseller, and since we all know people like Babbit, it's no wonder the name entered popular culture. ( )