Bantam Classics: Main Street大街英文原版

作者 Sinclair Lewis著
出版社 Random House
出版时间 1996年3月第1版
ISBN 9780553214512
定价 20.00

内容简介

ThefirstofSinclairLewis'sgreatsuccesses,MainStreetshatteredthesentimentalAmericanmythofhappysmall-townlifewithitssatireofnarrow-mindedprovincialism.ReflectinghisownunhappychildhoodinSaukCentre,Minnesota,Lewis'ssixthnovelattackedtheconformityanddullnesshesawinmidwesternvillagelife.YoungcollegegraduateCarolMilfordmovesfromthecitytotinyGopherPrairieaftermarryingthelocaldoctor,andtriestobringculturetothesmalltown.Buthereffortstoreformtheprairievillagearemetbyawallofgossip,greed,conventionality,pitifullyunambitiousculturalendeavors,and—worstofall—thepettinessandbigotryofsmall-townminds.Lewis'sportrayalofamarriagetornbydisillusionmentandawomanforcedintocompromisesisatoncedevastatingsocialsatireandpersuasiverealism.Hissubtlecharacterizationsandintimatedetailsofsmall-townAmericamakeMainStreetacomplexandcompellingworkandestablishedLewisasanimportantfigureintwentieth-centuryAmericanliterature.

作者简介

SinclairLewiswasbornin1885inSaukCentre,Minnesota,andgraduatedfromYaleUniversityin1908.Hiscollegecareerwasinterruptedbyvariouspart-timeoccupations,includingaperiodworkingattheHeliconHomeColony,UptonSinclair'ssocialistexperimentinNewJersey.Heworkedforsomeyearsasafreelanceeditorandjournalist,duringwhichtimehepublishedseveralminornovels.ButwiththepublicationofMainStreet(1920),whichsoldhalfamillioncopies,heachievedwiderecognition.Thiswasfollowedbythetwonovelsconsideredbymanytobehisfinest,Babbitt(1922)andArrowsmith(1925),whichwasawardedthePulitzerPrizein1926,butdeclinedbyLewis.In1930,followingElmerGantry(1927)andDodsworth(1929),SinclairLewisbecamethefirstAmericanauthortobeawardedtheNobelPrizefordistinctioninworldliterature.Thiswastheapogeeofhisliterarycareer,andintheperiodfromAnnVickers(1933)totheposthumouslypublishedWorldSoWide(1951)Lewiswrotetennovelsthatrevealtheprogressivedeclineofhiscreativepowers.DuringhislastyearsSinclairLewiswanderedextensivelyinEurope,andafterhisdeathinRomein1951hisasheswerereturnedtohisbirthplace.