Rating: 
Summary: The book for which Lewis won the Nobel Prize.
Review: "Babbitt," published in 1922, was the second straight publishing phenomenon for Sinclair Lewis, who had become a household name in 1920 with "Main Street." By 1930, Lewis had published three more notable novels ("Arrowsmith," "Elmer Gantry," and "Dodsworth"), declined the Pulitzer Prize in a fit of pique, and finally became the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. The 1920s were his prime years, and none of his novels was more renowned than "Babbitt," which merited special recognition from the Swedish Academy when Lewis won the Nobel Prize.So what is one to make of this novel now? It can be dreadfully dull, and could (indeed should) have been cut in half. It wanders around in search of a plot, and though many of its insights can be funny, overall one has to marvel at how genteel the literature of 1920s was in order to make this book a national sensation. Basically, it is the story of George F. Babbitt, a solidly Republican, supremely self-satisfied, deeply stupid real estate man, who has a sort of midlife crisis in the course of the novel before returning desperately to his earlier state of censorious complacency by the last chapters. Lewis designed him to be an exemplar of his class, and many thought he was. The term "Babbitt" became a popular way of referring to chubby, materialistic businessmen. And then, by the 1940s, the novel had largely faded into oblivion, except in college classes or high school reading lists. Why? Quite simply, because it's not a particularly good novel. It is a reasonably well-written slice of satirical social commentary, and little more. Today, it is merely a cultural relic from the twenties, kind of like the abominably bad "Great Gatsby," which dilettantes rave over as if it were actually a good novel. It isn't, and neither is "Babbitt." But for those interested in how America saw itself just before the Great Depression, books like these might be informative.
Rating:
Summary: The book for which Lewis won the Nobel Prize.
Review: "Babbitt," published in 1922, was the second straight publishing phenomenon for Sinclair Lewis, who had become a household name in 1920 with "Main Street." By 1930, Lewis had published three more notable novels ("Arrowsmith," "Elmer Gantry," and "Dodsworth"), declined the Pulitzer Prize in a fit of pique, and finally became the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. The 1920s were his prime years, and none of his novels was more renowned than "Babbitt," which merited special recognition from the Swedish Academy when Lewis won the Nobel Prize. So what is one to make of this novel now? It can be dreadfully dull, and could (indeed should) have been cut in half. It wanders around in search of a plot, and though many of its insights can be funny, overall one has to marvel at how genteel the literature of 1920s was in order to make this book a national sensation. Basically, it is the story of George F. Babbitt, a solidly Republican, supremely self-satisfied, deeply stupid real estate man, who has a sort of midlife crisis in the course of the novel before returning desperately to his earlier state of censorious complacency by the last chapters. Lewis designed him to be an exemplar of his class, and many thought he was. The term "Babbitt" became a popular way of referring to chubby, materialistic businessmen. And then, by the 1940s, the novel had largely faded into oblivion, except in college classes or high school reading lists. Why? Quite simply, because it's not a particularly good novel. It is a reasonably well-written slice of satirical social commentary, and little more. Today, it is merely a cultural relic from the twenties, kind of like the abominably bad "Great Gatsby," which dilettantes rave over as if it were actually a good novel. It isn't, and neither is "Babbitt." But for those interested in how America saw itself just before the Great Depression, books like these might be informative.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun book
Review: A comincal, engaging book, Lewis tells the story of a 1920's American businessman obsessed with middle-class society and upholding his reputation as an outstanding citizen. His farcical adventures and moral debates highlight American conformist culture and the struggle for individualism
Rating: 
Summary: "I've never done a thing in life I wanted to do"
Review: Classic portrayal of the American businessman, and American business culture. As one previous reviewer titled his review: "shockingly modern". I was drawn to this book after hearing Joseph Campbell quote Babbitt in the "Power of Myth" series: "I've never done a single thing I've wanted to in my whole life!", Babbitt tells his son at the end of the novel. He's hoping that his son will be strong enough not to turn into him, and it's a strange moment because it's both sad and uplifting. Babbitt is someone most of us have encountered (or, if we're honest enough to admit it, are or have been to varying degrees) and it's easy to sympathize with his patriotic, capitalist "zippo"! We root for him, while despising him at the same time. He struggles internally with the discrepencies between the capitalist bag of goods he's been sold, and his own natural desires, values, and free will. Like most people unwilling or unable to work hard enough to break out on their own, he settles on an easy compromise: conformity. But only after humorous, sometimes bold, but ultimately futile attempts to "break free" (I'm reminded of Jim Carrey slamming into the physical boundaries of his pre-fab world in the movie, "The Truman Show"). Babbitt is punished by society's worst weapon - ostracism - and he folds neatly back into the herd. One hears the sound of a breaking spirit, and even more sadly, understands.
Rating: 
Summary: Kill me now so i don't have to finish this book
Review: I am 15yo. This is a stupid book. I only got to the second chapter. All he talks about is his shoes and his clothes and what his wife's going to wear. I don't care what his wife's going to wear or his shoes! I'm glad my school only makes us read the first couple chapters of a 'classic' and then allows us decide if we want to read the rest. If not, the suicide rate would be higher for literature class.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book
Review: Only 3 stars because it is not the most exciting or enjoyable read. But, it is an important read about materialism, having the wrong dreams, and middle-class conformity. I think that "Death of a Salesman" is a more touching and interesting tale of such things, but keep in mind, that drama came out 20 years after Babbitt.
Reading Babbitt will make you re-examine your own life and will hopefully stop you from making the mistakes that poor Babbitt made.
Rating:
Summary: A Nice Taste of the Roaring Twenties
Review: Recently I read two good non-fiction books about 1920s America: The Uncertainty of Everyday Life (Harvey Green), and Only Yesterday (Frederick L. Allen). Both of these books mentioned Sinclair Lewis' novel Babbitt, so I thought I'd check it out. After the introduction to this period I got from the above-mentioned histories, I found Babbitt to be a nice companion piece and a good continuation of my study of Roaring 20s America. Written in 1922 and set in 1920, this novel gives what I think is a good picture of USA in that time. True, Lewis' own prejudices against the upper middle class businessman of his era shine through. But I think the cultural insights we see in the novel are quite accurate. We can take the Babbitt's and their friends as typical representatives of their time and social class --- we see their "typical" day, their "typical" vacations, pasttimes, and activities. Even the colloquialisms are interesting; I can see how they can become annoying after a while, but they do add a reality to the story. I recommend Babbitt, the other two books I mentioned, and perhaps Edward Behr's book Prohibition as a package for the ambitious amateur historian who seeks to understand what life in our grand parents' and great grand parents' America was like. I think if you get through all four you'll have a pretty good idea of what things were like in that time period.
Rating:
Summary: Peppy All-American Booster Weathers Mid-Life Crisis
Review: Sinclair Lewis and Thomas Hart Benton, the artist, were about the same age, they both focussed on the American Heartland, and as I read Lewis, I see that they both had something else in common. They both had a tendency to draw cartoonish characters. George F. Babbitt is the main character of a satire by the same name; you might even laugh aloud in some places. Lewis is skillful, but at times, heavy-handed. He has portrayed an average Joe of 1920, the pep- and vim-obsessed go-getting businessman who was the bedrock of our industrial age, hypocritical, materialist, crooked, conformist, even proto-fascist. Babbitt is a real estate agent, a family man surrounded by the wealth of material goods provided by thriving industrial capitalism. He belongs enthusiastically and unquestioningly to any organization dedicated to preserving his and his family's ready access to those goods---professional group (realtors association), Boosters, church, and set social circle. He spouts meaningless platitudes on every subject, knows nothing except the price of real estate and methods of collusion, and ignores his feelings, his family, and the rest of the world, all the while believing that his city, state, and country are the best in the world. The first 90-odd pages of BABBITT are pure genius; one of the best character portraits you are likely to find in American literature---but it is a caricature after all. Lewis' choice of names underlines his cartoonish glee in writing this brilliant novel---Vergil Gunch, Professor Pumphrey, Chet Laylock, Matt Penniman, Muriel Frink, Opal Mudge, Carrie Nork, and Miss McGoun---names that could have been annexed years later by MAD magazine ! "Babbitt" has long been a word in American English, signifying a conforming materialist citizen without a mind of his own. Perhaps this is not entirely fair. George goes through a mid-life crisis, rebels against his static, materialistic life with its know-nothing attitudes, its moral certitudes, and its boring routines. His closest friend (aren't there certain unspoken overtones of homosexual love ?) commits a dastardly deed, breaking George's heart. "On the rebound", he meets the fantastically-named Tanis Judique, femme fatale à la Midwest. Certain consequences arise, Lewis brings in his ever-present fear of American fascist tendencies, and there's a rather hopeful ending, also in the American tradition. If you are looking for a place to begin reading Sinclair Lewis, BABBITT is an excellent choice. If you already know other Lewis novels, don't miss this one. I would say that with "Main Street", "Elmer Gantry" and "Dodsworth", BABBITT is at the solid gold core of Sinclair Lewis' work. He certainly did deserve that Nobel Prize.
Rating:
Summary: a novel of conformity
Review: Sinclair Lewis is best known for his novel Main Street. But Babbitt is a fine novel. H.G. Wells said of it: "I wish I could have written Babbitt." It's a novel about George F. Babbitt and the city he lives in, Zenith. Some of the greatest lines in the book are descriptions of Zenith, not the least of which is the opening lines. Lewis creates in Babbitt the total conformist and we follow him through his conformity and into thinking on his own. Babbitt is simply a man who wants to be liked by everyone. Babbitt gives expression to the glibness and irresponsibility of the professional social climber. Lewis gives us one of our modern classics.
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest novels of the Century !
Review: Sinclair Lewis literally made a spiritual surgeon around the human being with his disventures and trivialities .
This merciless story must have been schoking the most advanced minds in that age . The scandal raised for this work was the clear signal about its inner qualities .
My kind reader ; I believe that any creation process somehow implies the destruction of the established previously order.
Think about the scandal generated for Le Sacre du prientemps in 1913 , the Marcel Duchamp works , The Eroica , The Sixtin Chapel or The Citizen Kane in movies .
If you are an artist and nothing happens beware what you are doing .
This book somehow broke the walls in the early thirties and allowed to Sinclair Lewis to throw his glow to the eternity with this masterwork .
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