04-21-11

11hrs 56min

Abridgement

Unabridged

Genre

Fiction/Classics

As low as $0.00
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04-21-11

11hrs 56min

Abridgement

Unabridged

Genre

Fiction/Classics

Description

“[It is] by its hardness, its efficiency, its compactness that Mr. Lewis’ work excels.” Virginia Woolf

In this sardonic portrait of the up-and-coming middle class during the prosperous 1920s, On the surface, everything is all right with Babbitt’s world of the solid, successful businessman. But in reality, George F. Babbitt is a lonely, middle-aged man. He doesn’t understand his family, has an unsuccessful attempt at an affair, and is almost financially ruined when he dares to voice sympathy for some striking workers. Babbitt finds that his only safety lies deep in the fold of those who play it safe. He is a man who has added a new word to our language: a “Babbitt,” meaning someone who conforms unthinkingly, a sheep.

Praise

“[It is] by its hardness, its efficiency, its compactness that Mr. Lewis’ work excels.” Virginia Woolf

“Sinclair Lewis is one of the major prophets of our time.” William Allen White, Pulitzer Prize winner

“Mr. Lewis is a genius…an idealist, an artist.” London Observer

“Babbitt is an authentic modern American classic, a biting satire of middle-American values that retains much of its poignancy today.” Library Journal

Details
More Information
Language English
Release Day Apr 20, 2011
Release Date April 21, 2011
Release Date Machine 1303344000
Imprint Blackstone Publishing
Provider Craig Black
Categories Literature & Fiction, Classics, Classics, Evergreen Classics, Evergreen Classics, Classics, Fiction - All, Fiction - Adult
Author Bio
Sinclair Lewis

Harry Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951), the son of a country doctor, was born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. He attended Yale University, where he was editor of the literary magazine, and graduated in 1907. After a few of his stories had appeared in magazines and his first novel, Our Mr. Wrenn (1914), had been published, he was able to write full time. He was awarded the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Arrowsmith (1925) but refused to accept the honor. However, he accepted the Nobel Prize awarded him in 1930. He was the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Narrator Bio
Grover Gardner

Grover Gardner (a.k.a. Tom Parker) is an award-winning narrator with over a thousand titles to his credit. Named one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards, was chosen Narrator of the Year for 2005 by Publishers Weekly, and has earned more than thirty Earphones Awards.

Overview

In this sardonic portrait of the up-and-coming middle class during the prosperous 1920s, On the surface, everything is all right with Babbitt’s world of the solid, successful businessman. But in reality, George F. Babbitt is a lonely, middle-aged man. He doesn’t understand his family, has an unsuccessful attempt at an affair, and is almost financially ruined when he dares to voice sympathy for some striking workers. Babbitt finds that his only safety lies deep in the fold of those who play it safe. He is a man who has added a new word to our language: a “Babbitt,” meaning someone who conforms unthinkingly, a sheep.

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