Sinclair Lewis

Born 7 February 1885 · Died 10 January 1951

From Sauk Centre, Minnesota, United States · Nationality: United States · Writes fiction and nonfiction

American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright

Quotes

“Every compulsion is put upon writers to become safe, polite, obedient, and sterile. In protest, I declined election to the National Institute of Arts and Letters some years ago, and now I must decline the Pulitzer Prize.”
Letter declining the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Arrowsmith
“The trouble with this country is... that there’re too many people going about saying “The trouble with this country is—“”
Chapter 10
“Slow yellow river flowing, willows that gesture in tepid August airs, and four children playing at greatness, as, doubtless, great men themselves must play.”
Ann Vickers 1933 First lines.
“Probably none of the Weagles gave five minutes’ thought a year to theology or ecclesiology, except Ora, who occasionally stirred up a lot of interesting family irritation by announcing that he was going to become a Catholic, an Episcopalian, a Buddhist, or a Seventh Day Adventist.”
Chapter 4
“Myron reflected that there are so many people in the world who are eager to do for you things that you do not wish done, provided only that you will do for them things that you don’t wish to do.”
Chapter 21

Books by Sinclair Lewis in order

Books by Sinclair Lewis in the order they were published, from Mantrap (1905) to The Short Stories of Sinclair Lewis (2007).