The serialized novels of Sinclair Lewis : a comparative analysis of periodical and book
Authors:   , Bucco Martin 
Published: June 2024

Of Sinclair Lewis's twenty-two novels, seven were serialized in various popular magazines before they were published in book form. Of these seven only Arrowsmith has been subjected to comparative analysis of the serial and the book versions. The present study attests to complete the analyses of the versions so that future studies in the influence of commercial fiction on Lewis and, in turn, Lewis's inpact on popular fiction can be expedited. The primary sources in this study are the periodicals containing Lewis's serials, the corresponding novels in book form, and manuscripts and folios among the Sinclair Lewis Papers at the Yale University Library. Secondary sources include the several recently published works dealing with Lewis the man and Lewis the writer, as well as some stimulating articles. This study proceeds chronologically and treats each novel in a chapter by itself. In each chapter the distinctions between the serial novel and the book novel are presented; however, because of the magnitude of differences between some versions, generalities are drawn without citation, paraphrase, or quotation of all data. All significant differences, however, are reported under one of the following four arbitrary divisions of each chapter: (1) structure, (2) theme, (3) characterization, and (4) style. Since the reasons for certain differences between the versions are stated specifically at the time the alterations are presented, the conclusion generalizes on the interaction between the serialized novel and the nonserialized novel in Lewis's work. Chapter X deals with Lewis's first serial, "The Innocents," written as a two-part sentimental romance for Woman's Home Companion, Lewis expanded and revised the serial version, and published it as The Innocents: A Story for Lovers (1917). He improved style and characterization, but weakened the structure through the addition of segregated melodrama. Chapter II treats Lewis's six-part serial about young love and the romance of the road, "Free Air" and its sequel, "Danger--Run Slow," published in Saturday Evening Post. Lewis improved the book version of Free Air (1919) by unifying the loosely connected installments, and reconstituting certain scenes. Chapter III examines the relationship between Mantrap (1926) and its earlier publication as a thirteen-part adventure story in Collier's Weekly. More than the multi-climaxed serial, the book underscores the hero's ambivalence toward nature. The serial is more diffuse and incongruous than the book. Chapter IV analyzes the differences between the long book version of Ann Vickers (1932) and its shorter serialization extracted from an early draft of the book manuscript. Focusing on the deletion of wordiness, Lewis revised heavily between the time of its publication in Bedbook and its appearance as a book. The serial editors excinded many of the "muckraking" elements and veiled or eliminated hundreds of "improprieties." Chapter V discusses ways in which Cosmopolitan shortened Cass Timberlane (1945) to half its book length: The editors removed the "assemblages" and more than fifty incidents. The serial characters have fewer "facets" than their counterparts in the book and Timberlane is idealized. The few revisions Lewis made strengthen the book version through better word choice and the elimination of awkward and unjustified passages. Chapter VI is concerned with the reduction of World So Wide (1951) to a two-part serial in Woman's Home Companion. A number of characters in the book, as well as scores of incidents or short scenes, do not appear in the serial. Almost all allusions to sex and drink were deleted. as were descriptions of the Italian setting. Lewis's few revisions were ineffectual. The Conclusion states that the requirements of popular serial fiction affected all of Lewis's fiction. Particularly, serials crystallized many of his middle-class attitudes, taught him how to work in a small compass and then to string these short climactic units together indefinitely, encouraged him to sacrifice overall unity for compelling action, disciplined him to set the stage and draw characters quickly, and urged him to investigate the contemporary American scene. Like Charles Dickens, another strong influence, Lewis accepted the rigid conventions of serialization and yet occasionally succeeded in the highly improbable task of transcending them. But even his best novels show signs of the struggle.