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id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><i>Babbitt</i> (novel)</h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. 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mw-list-item"><a href="https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbitt_(roman)" title="Babbitt (roman) – Danish" lang="da" hreflang="da" data-title="Babbitt (roman)" data-language-autonym="Dansk" data-language-local-name="Danish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Dansk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbitt_(Sinclair_Lewis)" title="Babbitt (Sinclair Lewis) – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Babbitt (Sinclair Lewis)" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbitt_(roman)" title="Babbitt (roman) – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Babbitt (roman)" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbitt_(romanzo)" title="Babbitt (romanzo) – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Babbitt (romanzo)" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-avk mw-list-item"><a href="https://avk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbitt_(suterot)" title="Babbitt (suterot) – Kotava" lang="avk" hreflang="avk" data-title="Babbitt (suterot)" data-language-autonym="Kotava" data-language-local-name="Kotava" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Kotava</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pa mw-list-item"><a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%AC%E0%A9%88%E0%A8%AC%E0%A8%BF%E0%A8%9F_(%E0%A8%A8%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B5%E0%A8%B2)" title="ਬੈਬਿਟ (ਨਾਵਲ) – Punjabi" lang="pa" hreflang="pa" data-title="ਬੈਬਿਟ (ਨਾਵਲ)" data-language-autonym="ਪੰਜਾਬੀ" data-language-local-name="Punjabi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ਪੰਜਾਬੀ</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbitt_(livro)" title="Babbitt (livro) – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Babbitt (livro)" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D1%8D%D0%B1%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%82_(%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD)" title="Бэббит (роман) – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Бэббит (роман)" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%82_(%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD)" title="Бебит (роман) – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" 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id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Novel by Sinclair Lewis</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1257001546">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox vcard"><caption class="infobox-title" style="font-size:125%; font-style:italic; padding-bottom:0.2em;">Babbitt <span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Babbitt&rft.author=%5B%5BSinclair+Lewis%5D%5D&rft.date=1922&rft.pub=%5B%5BHarcourt+Trade+Publishers%7CHarcourt%2C+Brace+%26+Co.%5D%5D&rft.place=United+States&rft.pages=432+%28paperback%29"></span></caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="/wiki/File:Babbit_cover_(scan).jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Babbit_cover_%28scan%29.jpg/220px-Babbit_cover_%28scan%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="327" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Babbit_cover_%28scan%29.jpg/330px-Babbit_cover_%28scan%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Babbit_cover_%28scan%29.jpg/440px-Babbit_cover_%28scan%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="967" data-file-height="1439" /></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">First edition cover</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Author</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Sinclair_Lewis" title="Sinclair Lewis">Sinclair Lewis</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Language</th><td class="infobox-data">English</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Subject</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Culture_of_the_United_States" title="Culture of the United States">American values</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Genre</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Satire" title="Satire">Satire</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Publisher</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Harcourt_Trade_Publishers" class="mw-redirect" title="Harcourt Trade Publishers">Harcourt, Brace & Co.</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Publication date</div></th><td class="infobox-data">1922</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Publication place</th><td class="infobox-data">United States</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Media type</th><td class="infobox-data">Print (hardcover)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Pages</th><td class="infobox-data">432 (paperback)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Preceded by</th><td class="infobox-data"><i><a href="/wiki/Main_Street_(novel)" title="Main Street (novel)">Main Street</a> </i></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Followed by</th><td class="infobox-data"><i><a href="/wiki/Arrowsmith_(novel)" title="Arrowsmith (novel)">Arrowsmith</a> </i></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Text</th><td class="infobox-data"><i><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Babbitt" class="extiw" title="s:Babbitt">Babbitt</a></i> at <a href="/wiki/Wikisource" title="Wikisource">Wikisource</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><i><b>Babbitt</b></i> (1922), by <a href="/wiki/Sinclair_Lewis" title="Sinclair Lewis">Sinclair Lewis</a>, is a <a href="/wiki/Satire" title="Satire">satirical</a> novel about <a href="/wiki/American_culture" class="mw-redirect" title="American culture">American culture</a> and society that critiques the vacuity of <a href="/wiki/Middle_class_in_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="Middle class in the United States">middle class</a> life and the <a href="/wiki/Social_pressure" class="mw-redirect" title="Social pressure">social pressure</a> toward <a href="/wiki/Conformity" title="Conformity">conformity</a>. The controversy provoked by <i>Babbitt</i> was influential in the decision to award the <a href="/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Literature" title="Nobel Prize in Literature">Nobel Prize in Literature</a> to Lewis in 1930.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The novel has been filmed twice, <a href="/wiki/Babbitt_(1924_film)" title="Babbitt (1924 film)">once as a silent in 1924</a> and remade as a <a href="/wiki/Talkie" class="mw-redirect" title="Talkie">talkie</a> <a href="/wiki/Babbitt_(1934_film)" title="Babbitt (1934 film)">in 1934</a>. </p><p>The word <i>Babbitt</i> has entered the <a href="/wiki/English_language" title="English language">English language</a> as a "person and especially a business or professional man who conforms unthinkingly to prevailing middle-class standards".<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Plot">Plot</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Babbitt_(novel)&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Plot"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><i><a href="/wiki/The_Smart_Set" title="The Smart Set">The Smart Set</a></i><span class="nowrap" style="padding-left:0.1em;">'</span>s review of the novel stated, "There is no plot whatever... Babbitt simply grows two years older as the tale unfolds."<sup id="cite_ref-mencken138_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-mencken138-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The first seven chapters follow George F. Babbitt's life over the course of a single day. Over breakfast, Babbitt, a successful real estate broker, dotes on his ten-year-old daughter Tinka, tries to dissuade his 22-year-old daughter Verona from her newfound socialist leanings, and encourages his 17-year-old son Ted to try harder in school. At the office he dictates letters and discusses real estate advertising with his employees. Gradually, Babbitt realizes his dissatisfaction with "<a href="/wiki/The_American_Dream" class="mw-redirect" title="The American Dream">The American Dream</a>", and attempts to quell these feelings by going camping in <a href="/wiki/Maine" title="Maine">Maine</a> with his close friend and old college roommate Paul Riesling. Although the trip has its ups and downs, the two men consider it an overall success and leave feeling optimistic about the year ahead. </p><p>On the day Babbitt gets elected vice-president of the Booster's club, he finds out that Paul shot his wife Zilla. Babbitt immediately drives to the jail where Paul is being held, trying to think of ways to help Paul out. Shortly after Paul's arrest, Babbitt's wife and daughter go to visit relatives, leaving Babbitt more or less on his own. Babbitt begins to ask himself what it was he really wanted in life. In time, Babbitt begins to rebel against all of the standards he formerly held: he jumps into liberal politics with famous socialist/"<a href="/wiki/Georgism" title="Georgism">single tax</a>" litigator Seneca Doane, conducts an extramarital <a href="/wiki/Affair" title="Affair">affair</a>, goes on various vacations, and cavorts around Zenith with <a href="/wiki/Bohemianism" title="Bohemianism">bohemians</a> and <a href="/wiki/Flapper" title="Flapper">flappers</a>. He slowly becomes aware that his forays into nonconformity are not only futile but also destructive of the life and the friends he once loved. </p><p>When Babbitt's wife falls ill with acute <a href="/wiki/Appendicitis" title="Appendicitis">appendicitis</a>, Babbitt rushes home and relinquishes all rebellion. During her long recovery, they rekindle their intimacy and Babbitt reverts to dispassionate conformity. In the final scene, Babbitt discovers that his son Ted has secretly married Eunice, the daughter of his neighbor. He offers his approval of the marriage, stating that though he does not agree, he admires Ted for living his life on his own terms. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Setting">Setting</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Babbitt_(novel)&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Setting"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Zenith is a fictitious city in the equally fictitious Midwestern state of "<a href="/wiki/Winnemac_(fictional_U.S._state)" title="Winnemac (fictional U.S. state)">Winnemac</a>", adjacent to <a href="/wiki/Ohio" title="Ohio">Ohio</a>, <a href="/wiki/Indiana" title="Indiana">Indiana</a>, <a href="/wiki/Illinois" title="Illinois">Illinois</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Michigan" title="Michigan">Michigan</a>. (<i>Babbitt</i> does not mention Winnemac by name, but Lewis's subsequent novel <i><a href="/wiki/Arrowsmith_(novel)" title="Arrowsmith (novel)">Arrowsmith</a></i> elaborates on its location.) When <i>Babbitt</i> was published, newspapers in <a href="/wiki/Cincinnati" title="Cincinnati">Cincinnati</a>, <a href="/wiki/Duluth" class="mw-redirect" title="Duluth">Duluth</a>, <a href="/wiki/Kansas_City" class="mw-redirect" title="Kansas City">Kansas City</a>, <a href="/wiki/Milwaukee" title="Milwaukee">Milwaukee</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Minneapolis" title="Minneapolis">Minneapolis</a> each claimed that their city was the model for Zenith.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Cincinnati had perhaps the strongest claim, as Lewis had lived there while researching the book.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Lewis's own correspondence suggests, however, that Zenith is meant to be any Midwestern city with a population between about 200,000 and 300,000.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Lewis was highly critical of the similarities among most <a href="/wiki/List_of_cities_in_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="List of cities in the United States">American cities</a>, especially when compared to the diverse—and in his view, culturally richer—cities of Europe. Frowning on the interchangeable qualities of American cities, he wrote: "it would not be possible to write a novel which would in every line be equally true to <a href="/wiki/Munich" title="Munich">Munich</a> and <a href="/wiki/Florence" title="Florence">Florence</a>."<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>While conducting research for <i>Babbitt</i>, Lewis kept detailed journals, in which he drafted long biographies for each of his characters. For his title character this biography even included a detailed <a href="/wiki/Genealogy" title="Genealogy">genealogy</a>, as well as a list of Babbitt's college courses. Zenith's major names and families are documented in these journals, and many of them emerge again in Lewis's later writings. Zenith's layout is also imagined in careful detail. Lewis drew a series of 18 maps of Zenith and outlying areas, including Babbitt's house, with all its furnishings.<sup id="cite_ref-Hutchisson_1992_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Hutchisson_1992-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Themes">Themes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Babbitt_(novel)&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Themes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Business_and_the_middle_class">Business and the middle class</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Babbitt_(novel)&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Business and the middle class"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>After the social instability and sharp <a href="/wiki/Economic_depression" title="Economic depression">economic depression</a> that followed <a href="/wiki/World_War_I" title="World War I">World War I</a>, many Americans in the 1920s saw business and city growth as foundations for stability. The <a href="/wiki/Boosterism" title="Boosterism">civic boosters</a> and self-made men of the middle-class represented particularly American depictions of success, at a time when the promotion of the American identity was crucial in the face of rising fears of <a href="/wiki/Communism" title="Communism">Communism</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> At the same time, growing Midwestern cities, usually associated with <a href="/wiki/Mass_production" title="Mass production">mass production</a> and the emergence of a consumer society, were also seen as emblems of American progress. George F. Babbitt, the novel's main character, was described by the 1930 Nobel Prize committee as "the ideal of an American popular hero of the middle-class. The relativity of business morals as well as private rules of conduct is for him an accepted article of faith, and without hesitation he considers it God's purpose that man should work, increase his income, and enjoy modern improvements."<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>To his publisher, Lewis wrote: “[George Babbitt] is all of us Americans at 46, prosperous, but worried, wanting — passionately — to seize something more than motor cars and a house <i>before it's too late</i>.”<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> About the novel, Lewis said: “This is the story of the ruler of America” wherein the “tired American Businessman” wielded socioeconomic power not through his exceptionality but rather through militant <a href="/wiki/Conformity" title="Conformity">conformity</a>. Lewis portrayed the American businessman as a man deeply dissatisfied with and privately aware of his shortcomings; he is “the most grievous victim of his own militant dullness” who secretly longed for freedom and romance.<sup id="cite_ref-unpub15_13-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-unpub15-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Readers who praised the <a href="/wiki/Psychological_realism" class="mw-redirect" title="Psychological realism">psychological realism</a> of the portrait admitted to regularly encountering Babbitts in real life but also could relate to some of the character's anxieties about conformity and personal fulfillment. Published two years after Lewis's previous novel (<i><a href="/wiki/Main_Street_(novel)" title="Main Street (novel)">Main Street</a></i>, 1920), the story of George F. Babbitt was much anticipated because each novel presented a portrait of American society wherein “the principal character is brought into conflict with the accepted order of things, sufficiently to illustrate its ruthlessness.”<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Social_change">Social change</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Babbitt_(novel)&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Social change"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Although many other popular novelists writing at the time of <i>Babbitt'</i>s publication depict the "<a href="/wiki/Roaring_Twenties" title="Roaring Twenties">Roaring Twenties</a>" as an era of social change and disillusionment with material culture, modern scholars argue that Lewis was not himself a member of the "<a href="/wiki/Lost_generation" class="mw-redirect" title="Lost generation">lost generation</a>" of younger writers like <a href="/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway" title="Ernest Hemingway">Ernest Hemingway</a> or <a href="/wiki/F._Scott_Fitzgerald" title="F. Scott Fitzgerald">F. Scott Fitzgerald</a>. Instead, he was influenced by the <a href="/wiki/Progressive_Era" title="Progressive Era">Progressive Era</a>; and changes in the American identity that accompanied the country's rapid <a href="/wiki/Urbanization" title="Urbanization">urbanization</a>, technological growth, <a href="/wiki/Industrialization" class="mw-redirect" title="Industrialization">industrialization</a>, and the closing of the frontier.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Although the Progressive Era had built a protective barrier around the upstanding American businessman, one literary scholar wrote that "Lewis was fortunate enough to come on the scene just as the emperor's clothes were disappearing."<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Lewis has been compared to many authors, writing before and after the publication of <i>Babbitt</i>, who made similar criticisms of the <a href="/wiki/Middle_class" title="Middle class">middle class</a>. Although it was published in 1899, long before <i>Babbitt</i>, <a href="/wiki/Thorstein_Veblen" title="Thorstein Veblen">Thorstein Veblen</a>'s <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i>, which critiqued consumer culture and social competition at the turn of the 20th century, is an oft-cited point of comparison.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Written decades later, in 1950, <a href="/wiki/David_Riesman" title="David Riesman">David Riesman</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/The_Lonely_Crowd" title="The Lonely Crowd">The Lonely Crowd</a></i> has also been compared to Lewis's writings.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Critical_reception">Critical reception</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Babbitt_(novel)&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Critical reception"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The social critic and satirist <a href="/wiki/H._L._Mencken" title="H. L. Mencken">H. L. Mencken</a>, an ardent supporter of Sinclair Lewis, called himself “an old professor of Babbittry” and said that <i>Babbitt</i> was a stunning work of <a href="/wiki/Literary_realism" title="Literary realism">literary realism</a> about American society.<sup id="cite_ref-mencken138_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-mencken138-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> To Mencken, George F. Babbitt was an archetype of the American city dwellers who touted the virtues of Republicanism, Presbyterianism, and absolute conformity because "it is not what he [Babbitt] feels and aspires that moves him primarily; it is what the folks about him will think of him. His politics is communal politics, mob politics, herd politics; his religion is a public rite wholly without subjective significance."<sup id="cite_ref-mencken138_4-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-mencken138-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Mencken said that Babbitt was the literary embodiment of everything wrong with American society.<sup id="cite_ref-mencken138_4-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-mencken138-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the cultural climate of the early 20th century, like-minded critics and Mencken's followers were known as "Babbitt-baiters".<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Despite Mencken's praise of <i>Babbitt</i> as unflinching social satire, other critics found exaggeration in Lewis's depiction of the American businessman. In the book review “From Maupassant to Mencken” (1922), <a href="/wiki/Edmund_Wilson" title="Edmund Wilson">Edmund Wilson</a> compared Lewis's style in <i>Babbitt</i> to the more “graceful” writing styles of satirists such as <a href="/wiki/Charles_Dickens" title="Charles Dickens">Charles Dickens</a> and <a href="/wiki/Mark_Twain" title="Mark Twain">Mark Twain</a> and said that, as a prose stylist, Lewis's literary “gift is almost entirely for making people nasty” and the characters unbelievable.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Concurring with Wilson that Lewis was no Twain, another critic dismissed <i>Babbitt</i> as “a monstrous, bawling, unconscionable satire” and said “Mr. Lewis is the most phenomenally skillful exaggerator in literature today.”<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Nonetheless, in its first year of publication, 140,997 copies of the novel were sold in the U.S.<sup id="cite_ref-hutch89_22-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-hutch89-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the mid-1920s, Babbitt-baiting became an irritant to American businessmen, <a href="/wiki/Rotary_Club" class="mw-redirect" title="Rotary Club">Rotarians</a>, and the like, who began defending the Babbitts of the U.S. by way of radio and magazine journalism. They emphasized the virtues of community organizations and the positive contributions that industrial cities have made to American society.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Adaptations">Adaptations</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Babbitt_(novel)&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Adaptations"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><i>Babbitt</i> has been converted into films twice, a feat <a href="/wiki/Turner_Classic_Movies" title="Turner Classic Movies">Turner Classic Movies</a> describes as "impressive for a novel that barely has a plot."<sup id="cite_ref-tcmart_24-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-tcmart-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Babbitt_(1924_film)" title="Babbitt (1924 film)">The first adaptation</a> was a <a href="/wiki/Silent_film" title="Silent film">silent film</a> released in 1924 and starring <a href="/wiki/Willard_Louis" title="Willard Louis">Willard Louis</a> as George F. Babbitt. According to Warner Bros. records it cost $123,000 and made $278,000 domestic and $28,000 foreign, being a total of $306,000.<sup id="cite_ref-warners_25-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-warners-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The second was a <a href="/wiki/Babbitt_(1934_film)" title="Babbitt (1934 film)">1934</a> <a href="/wiki/Talkie" class="mw-redirect" title="Talkie">talkie</a> starring <a href="/wiki/Guy_Kibbee" title="Guy Kibbee">Guy Kibbee</a>. That version, while remaining somewhat true to Lewis's novel, takes liberties with the plot, exaggerating Babbitt's affair and a sour real estate deal.<sup id="cite_ref-tcmart_24-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-tcmart-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Both films were <a href="/wiki/Warner_Bros." title="Warner Bros.">Warner Bros.</a> productions.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (June 2024)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p>In November 2023, the <a href="/wiki/La_Jolla_Playhouse" title="La Jolla Playhouse">La Jolla Playhouse</a> premiered a play adaptation of <i>Babbitt</i> starring <a href="/wiki/Matthew_Broderick" title="Matthew Broderick">Matthew Broderick</a> as part of their 2023-2024 Season.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The <a href="/wiki/Shakespeare_Theatre_Company" title="Shakespeare Theatre Company">Shakespeare Theatre Company</a> in Washington, DC, opened the play in October 2024. <sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Cultural_influence">Cultural influence</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Babbitt_(novel)&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Cultural influence"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In American literature and popular culture, the character and behaviors of George F. Babbitt became established as negative <a href="/wiki/Archetype" title="Archetype">archetypes</a> of person and personality; a <i>Babbitt</i> is “a materialistic and complacent businessman conforming to the standards of his [social] set” and <i>Babbittry</i> is the “<a href="/wiki/Philistinism" title="Philistinism">Philistine</a> behaviour of a Babbitt”.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Examples include <a href="/wiki/C._E._M._Joad" title="C. E. M. Joad">C. E. M. Joad</a>'s 1927 book <i>The Babbitt Warren</i>, a scathing critique of American society,<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and <a href="/wiki/Vachel_Lindsay" title="Vachel Lindsay">Vachel Lindsay</a>'s 1922 poem "The Babbitt Jambouree."<sup id="cite_ref-hutch89_22-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-hutch89-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Elizabeth Stevenson referenced the character in the title of her popular history of the 1920s, <i>Babbitts and Bohemians: From the Great War to the Great Depression</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Bilbo Baggins, the main character in <a href="/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien" title="J. R. R. Tolkien">J. R. R. Tolkien</a>'s novel <i><a href="/wiki/The_Hobbit" title="The Hobbit">The Hobbit</a></i> was partly inspired by <i>Babbitt</i>, as was the title of the book itself. Bilbo and hobbits in general are known for being most comfortable at home, uninterested in adventure, and primarily concerned with the accumulation of food and possessions.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Other fictional influences are found in <a href="/wiki/Aldous_Huxley" title="Aldous Huxley">Aldous Huxley</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Eyeless_in_Gaza_(novel)" title="Eyeless in Gaza (novel)">Eyeless in Gaza</a></i> and <a href="/wiki/Saul_Bellow" title="Saul Bellow">Saul Bellow</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Humboldt%27s_Gift" title="Humboldt's Gift">Humboldt's Gift</a></i>. In both novels, one character compares another character to George Babbitt, contrasting their aspirational qualities with their ultimate complacency. The novel is one of the inspirations of the novel <i><a href="/wiki/Rabbit,_Run" title="Rabbit, Run">Rabbit, Run</a></i> (the protagonist of which is also a complacent and unfulfilled businessman) and its sequels by <a href="/wiki/John_Updike" title="John Updike">John Updike</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Babbitt_(novel)&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Service_club" title="Service club">Service club</a>, <a href="/wiki/Rotary_International" title="Rotary International">Rotary International</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Boosterism" title="Boosterism">Boosterism</a>, <a href="/wiki/Booster_Club" class="mw-redirect" title="Booster Club">Booster Club</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Winesburg,_Ohio" title="Winesburg, Ohio">Winesburg, Ohio</a></i></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Babbitt_(novel)&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Phelps, William Lyon/ "Sinclair Lewis and the Nobel Prize", <i><a href="/wiki/The_Washington_Post" title="The Washington Post">The Washington Post</a></i> (December 7, 1930)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/babbitt">Merriam-Webster</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFStrouf2005" class="citation book cs1">Strouf, Judie L. H. (2005). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=FykPAAAACAAJ"><i>The literature teacher's book of lists</i></a>. <a href="/wiki/Jossey-Bass" class="mw-redirect" title="Jossey-Bass">Jossey-Bass</a>. p. 13. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0787975508" title="Special:BookSources/0787975508"><bdi>0787975508</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+literature+teacher%27s+book+of+lists&rft.pages=13&rft.pub=Jossey-Bass&rft.date=2005&rft.isbn=0787975508&rft.aulast=Strouf&rft.aufirst=Judie+L.+H.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DFykPAAAACAAJ&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABabbitt+%28novel%29" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-mencken138-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-mencken138_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-mencken138_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-mencken138_4-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-mencken138_4-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/H._L._Mencken" title="H. L. Mencken">Mencken, H. L.</a>, "Portrait of an American Citizen," <i><a href="/wiki/The_Smart_Set" title="The Smart Set">The Smart Set</a></i> 69 (October 1922) pp. 138–139</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Schorer (1961), p. 344</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Schorer (1961), 301.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Schorer (1961), 301–2.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Lewis (2005), p.22</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Hutchisson_1992-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Hutchisson_1992_9-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hutchisson (1992)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hunter, Gordon. introduction to <i>Babbitt</i> by Sinclair Lewis (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), ix–xi.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Karlfedt, Erik Axel. "Presentation Speech", accessed April 4, 2012, <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1930/press.html">http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1930/press.html</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Smith, Harrison (Ed.) <i>Main Street to Stockholm: Letters of Sinclair Lewis, 1919–1930</i> (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1952), p. 59.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-unpub15-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-unpub15_13-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Lewis (2005), p. 15</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Mollyneaux, Peter. "Babbitt," review of <i>Babbitt</i>, by Sinclair Lewis, <i>Fort Worth Star Telegram</i> (8 October 1922)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Love (1993), p. 10</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Love (1993), p. 42.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Ames, Russell. "Sinclair Lewis Again", <i>College English</i> 10, no. 2 (1948): 78.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Love (1993), p. 12</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hines (1967), p. 126</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Wilson, Edmund. “From Maupassant to Mencken”, review of <i>Babbitt</i>, by Sinclair Lewis, <i>Vanity Fair</i> (December 1922): 25.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"Babbitt", review of <i>Babbitt</i>, by Sinclair Lewis, <i>The North American Review</i> 216 (1922): 716.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-hutch89-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-hutch89_22-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-hutch89_22-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Hutchisson (1996), p. 89</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hines (1967), pp. 132–134.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-tcmart-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-tcmart_24-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-tcmart_24-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Sterrritt, David, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/590/Babbitt/">"Babbitt"</a> <a href="/wiki/Turner_Classic_Movies" title="Turner Classic Movies">Turner Classic Movies</a>, accessed April 10, 2012</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-warners-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-warners_25-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 3 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://lajollaplayhouse.org/show/babbitt/">"Babbitt"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Babbitt&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Flajollaplayhouse.org%2Fshow%2Fbabbitt%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABabbitt+%28novel%29" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.shakespearetheatre.org/events/24-25-season-subscriptions/">"Matthew Broderick in BABBITT"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Matthew+Broderick+in+BABBITT&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shakespearetheatre.org%2Fevents%2F24-25-season-subscriptions%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABabbitt+%28novel%29" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary</i> (1993) p. 162.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">C. E. M. Joad, <i>The Babbitt Warren</i> (London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1926)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Stevenson, Elizabeth. <i>Babbitts and Bohemians: From the Great War to the Great Depression</i> (New York: Macmillan Company, 1967)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jones, Leslie Ellen. <i>J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography</i>. Greenwood, 2003, p. 83-84.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Shippey, Tom. <i>The Road to Middle Earth</i>. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003, p. 67</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Bramlett, Perry C. <i>I am in Fact a Hobbit</i> Macon: Mercer University Press, 2003, p. 32–33.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMcCrum2015" class="citation web cs1">McCrum, Robert (2015-05-25). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/25/100-best-novels-rabbit-redux-john-updike-review">"The 100 best novels: No 88 – Rabbit Redux by John Updike (1971)"</a>. <i>the Guardian</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2022-08-26</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=the+Guardian&rft.atitle=The+100+best+novels%3A+No+88+%E2%80%93+Rabbit+Redux+by+John+Updike+%281971%29&rft.date=2015-05-25&rft.aulast=McCrum&rft.aufirst=Robert&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fbooks%2F2015%2Fmay%2F25%2F100-best-novels-rabbit-redux-john-updike-review&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABabbitt+%28novel%29" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Bibliography">Bibliography</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Babbitt_(novel)&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Bibliography"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Hines, Thomas S. "Echoes from 'Zenith': Reactions of American Businessmen to Babbitt" <i>Business History Review</i> 41, no. 2 (1967)</li> <li>Hutchisson, James M. "All of Us at 46: The Making of Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt," <i>Journal of Modern Literature</i> 18, no. 1 (1992): 98.</li> <li>Hutchisson, James M. <i>The Rise of Sinclair Lewis: 1920–1930</i> (State College, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996). <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0271015039" title="Special:BookSources/0271015039">0271015039</a></li> <li>Lewis, Sinclair. "Unpublished Introduction to Babbitt," in <i>Go East, Young Man: Sinclair Lewis on Class in America</i>, ed. Sally E. Parry (New York: Signet Classics, 2005)</li> <li>Love, Glen A. <i>Babbitt: An American Life</i> (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993)</li> <li>Schorer, Mark. <i>Sinclair Lewis: An American Life</i> (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961)</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Babbitt_(novel)&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1235681985">.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #aaa;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em;background-color:var(--background-color-interactive-subtle,#f8f9fa);display:flow-root}.mw-parser-output .side-box-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{padding:0.25em 0.9em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-image{padding:2px 0 2px 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title="The Job (novel)">The Job</a></i> (1917)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Innocents_(novel)" title="The Innocents (novel)">The Innocents</a></i> (1917)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Free_Air" title="Free Air">Free Air</a></i> (1919)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Main_Street_(novel)" title="Main Street (novel)">Main Street</a></i> (1920)</li> <li><i><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Babbitt</a></i> (1922)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Arrowsmith_(novel)" title="Arrowsmith (novel)">Arrowsmith</a></i> (1925)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Mantrap_(novel)" title="Mantrap (novel)">Mantrap</a></i> (1926)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Elmer_Gantry" title="Elmer Gantry">Elmer Gantry</a></i> (1927)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Man_Who_Knew_Coolidge" title="The Man Who Knew Coolidge">The Man Who Knew Coolidge</a></i> (1928)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Dodsworth_(novel)" title="Dodsworth (novel)">Dodsworth</a></i> (1929)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Little_Bear_Bongo" title="Little Bear Bongo">Little Bear Bongo</a></i> (1930)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Ann_Vickers_(novel)" title="Ann Vickers (novel)">Ann Vickers</a></i> (1933)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Work_of_Art_(book)" title="Work of Art (book)">Work of Art</a></i> (1934)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/It_Can%27t_Happen_Here" title="It Can't Happen Here">It Can't Happen Here</a></i> (1935)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Bethel_Merriday" title="Bethel Merriday">Bethel Merriday</a></i> (1940)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Gideon_Planish" title="Gideon Planish">Gideon Planish</a></i> (1943)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Cass_Timberlane" title="Cass Timberlane">Cass Timberlane</a></i> (1945)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Kingsblood_Royal" title="Kingsblood Royal">Kingsblood Royal</a></i> (1947)</li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div 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