Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-10-01

to his publisher with the
enthusiastic prediction that
it would sell perhaps 10000
copies. The name of the book
was Main Street." the year
was 1920, and. Sinclair Lewis
had entered the decade OF
his life in which he was the
most famous and widely read
novelist in the world.
What was it that made
Main Street." almost over
night, so fantastic a success,
with 10000 copies sold
within six months? CThe
figure was to reach IL mil
lionJ Rereading it today we
find it turgid in style,
wooden in characterization,
and tagging in narrative in
tereSt. But we also discover
that it is full Of detailed
description and observation
and that almost everyone
can either identify Himself
with Carol Kennicott or feel
superior to her. What is even
more important, here we see
the American Midwestern
small town, not drenched in
the aroma of nostalgia, but
held up in ridicule against
the culture and stature of
the big city.
An ironic aspect OF the
situation is that many Of
Lewis more experienced
readers naturally believed
that the writer had no more
sympathy with Carols an
tipathy to Main Street than
he had with the crudities of
middle-claSs small-UoWn cul-
ture; apparently, however, he
was a sincere believer in
Carol and her reforms. Mr..
Schorer sees Lewis as a man
praising culture but unhappy
in the presence of art, Scorn-
ing the backwaters of Ameri-
ca but i'll at ease in the
metropolises or in Europe,
with Thoreau in his handbag
but H. G. Wells and Dresser
in his heart.
Mr.. Schorer's hero is a per-
son of far greater depths
and of many more lights and
shadows than any of Lewis
own characters. Lewis the
man was a whirlwind. He
was an everlasting talker
and mimic whose parodies.
still remembered today, were
always brilliant, but. more
often than not. untimely,
mixing d elight with Of
tense. During his long
decline, which commenced
shortly after the win
ming OF the Nobel Prize in
1880, he turned to play
writing. for which he had
no talent. and to acting, for
which he had. His capac-
ity for alcohol was simply
astounding not so much in
that he could drink himself
into a straight jacket with
no lasting harm to his con-
stitution until his final i'll
ness in 1850, but in that no
matter how drunk at mid
night he was almost always
hard at work at five or six in
the morning. Another nota-
BILE aspect of the man was
his perpetual and compulsive
flight. The reader cannot
keep track Of the dozens of
homes bought or rented all
over the world, furnished and
then abandoned almost be-
fore they were lived in.
- 50
There were four women in
his life two wives, a mis-
treSs. and, when his mistress
left him for marriage. the
mother of his mistress. In
Lewis the sexual drive was
not strong, and a companion
for him was essentially
someone to sustain his ego.
Each relationship. except the
last, was finally, each in its
own complex way, a failure.
Dorothy Thompson, as Mr..
Schorer shows her to us, was,
during the years of marriage
and no less after Lewis had
rid himself Of her, unselfish,
understanding, and capable
of anything short of impossi-
bility. At the time neither
was aware that when they
met and married Lewis was
at the end of his 10 years OF
blazing fame, and she was at
the portal of her caree.'.
Lewis became ravished by
jealousy a jealousy he
might have controlled If his
wife had been less compre-
bending, compassionate, and
loving. If he could have
hated her a little bit, he
might have kept her.