Babbitt

Published in 1922, Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt is a satirical novel about middle class America and its conformist, consumerist culture. It was an instant hit upon its publication but also the target of controversy. The book follows everyman George F. Babbitt as he goes about his daily life as a real estate agent, father, and husband. Contradictions arise however as Babbitt purchases alcohol despite his public support of Prohibition and laments his supposedly fulfilling job as nerve-wracking and dull. His placid life is soon upset by violence, sending Babbitt into a spiral where he questions everything he once took for granted. An allegory about freedom and the American dream, Babbitt is an enduring classic.