Evening star., 1927-04-12
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
/. G.. NJ.

Lewis created a little cosmos or MS
own, where the most of him appears
since to have taken up its dwelling
place. Upon it he has drawn for all
of his subsequent work. And within
1t, If he doesn't watch out. he may
ultimately find himself imprisoned be-
yond hope of escape.
In face of the enormous popularity
of this first novel with it's sequence of
prosperity, Lewis must many a time
have looked out upon his creation in
n mood whose voice said, Behold 1t
is very goodr Yet, this Main Street
world brought into such wide atten-
tion through the eYoCa tive gesture Of
the young man from Sauk Center Is
an unspeakab1y dreary one-dull.
trivial, banal, garrulous. unimagina-
tive, self.satisfied. But, despite this,
Gopher Prairie has already multiplied
itself by a million. These. all In exact
duplication, are scattered throughout
the land. each loudly declaring itself
to be the original Main street. 1t
sounds like puzzle--doesn't It, Here
is a novel, concededly tedious, yet
with a vogue and corresponding sales
that have served to place the Lares
and Penates of it's author permanently
within the pleasant purlieus Of Easy
street. Let's, just for the fun Of it.
nose around the edges Of this perplex-
ing matter.
Three hundred years ago, more or
less, the name Of anything counted
not at all. Indeed. the highest author
ity of that period declared openly that
there was nothing whatever in n
name. In this respect, as we'll as In
many another, it is plain that times
have changed. For nowadays good
talent and good money daily enter
into partnerships whose sole object is
to invent names to catch the eye. stir
curiosity, waken imagination and in
terest. promote trade. Now, when
Main Street" as the name of his
first novel slipped into the mind of its
author, at that moment Sinclair Lewis
stepped into Glass A in the art of
nomenclature. Right up toward the
head Of this class he moved. where
soaps and scents and cigarettes and
every other salable thing were all
shouting and waving hands like the
barker of the circus tent. or the tout
of the racetrack. Main Street" as
a name was clear inspiration. 1t
caught on at once. It travelled fast
and far. 1t became the rage and this
for the best Of reasons. For, once on
the inside Of it. the novel stirred the
common memory. 1t worked a pleas
ing reminiscent spell upon the great
throngs that had years ago left the
"old home town" and could here look
back upon it in superior and tolerant
fashion by way of Main Street" In
common assent all agreed that Gopher
Prairie was the living spit and ina ge
of Meridian or Cato or Weedsport-or
any other of the countless villages o.
the country. Main Street" was. be-
vond doubt. eVerybody's home town.
And each OF these everybodies crowded
back into it--Oh, no, not to live again
in the shabby and rather pathetic
corner, Rather to take place beside
Sinclair Lewis in the possessive mood
of co-author and competent critic.
keenly aware of the shortcomings
and utilities aof the old place that so
speedily proved Inadequate for the
Gifts and powers of this sophisticate
denizen of the wider spaces. 1t is
these hosts of the emancipated that
read "Nain Street" and chortle over
the drabness from which they them
selves made happy escape.
X
Sinclair Lewis has never wandered
far from this world of his own max
ing. When he felt the stir to epit-
omize business of the American brand
he went to Main street for his Bah
bitt," the boosting, bombastic, buster
ing man of affairs. Oh. yes. Babbitt
is found also in towns. for cities also
have their stretches of Main street,
where Rotarians and Kiwanians and
the others disport themselves with
great initiative and energy! Again,
when Lewis by way of "Arrowsrlith'
gathered up the medical profession. ii
was from Main street that its char
acters in their prime essentials were
drawn. Now, to business and med
icine, this ambitious world maker and
man maker has added religion, pro
iected in the person and career OF
Elmer Gantry."
Il X y n
A word about Sinclair Lewis him
self, first citizen Of Main Street" In
that initial novel he was the striving
artist, feeling out for the outstanding
facts of hamlet life. and recording
these in the most important of their
and effects. The theme
itself precluded brilliant strokes, such
as romance or adventure provides. A
humorist Of the mellow sort might
have given Main Street happy
easements, might have relieved its
dull monotone. But Lewis Is no
humorist. He is serious, even bit
ponderous, certainly in his work, and
almost surely in his estimate of him
self. He's been living in Main street
now several years. Its limitations, so
clearly set out by him, have served to
his own superiority. This
is a natural, an inevitable, result OF
such association. He Is now
superior to his fellow
townsmen, and with this sense has
come lack of patience with the yokel
roundabout, an irritation
that is sometimes merely fretful ana
peevish, that is at other times savage
and vindictive. If this young man
from Sauk Center continues much
longer to play Providence over Main
street.-the Is a plain goner In so far as
any useful and acceptable service TO
the rest of the world is concerned.
X
ELMER Gantry" is an open sign
and symbol of the danger that lies In
playing at omnipotence. It's a pao
business. The role Of Providence
doesn't set we'll with mortal man.
1t sours on him In thousand superb
orities that the human system cannot
assimilate. Take Elmer Gantry" as
a case in point. The story is set out
in Kansas, or maybe Nebraska but
no matter. The theme is religion,
which Lewis purports to take up In
his hand as he has already summed
business and medicine. The fair as
Is that. in view of his pre-
ceding work, this author is to create
a general outlook upon the church
activities of the country. But, OBJ
this is not his intent Clear
ly, here the author who has chosen
to work in wide sweeps of vision has
changed his purpose-has veered
from his course. For the purposes OF
Elmer Gantry." preacher, Lewis
compounds mountebank out OF an
indiscriminate assortment of human
and this he sets UP in a