Babbitt

Sheba Blake, Sinclair Lewis

Summary

Babbitt is a satirical novel about American culture and society that critiques the vacuity of middle-class life and the social pressure toward conformity. The controversy provoked by Babbitt was influential in the decision to award the Nobel Prize in literature to Lewis in 1930.
The word "Babbitt" entered the English language as a "person and especially a business or professional man who conforms unthinkingly to prevailing middle-class standards".

Lewis has been both criticized and congratulated for his unorthodox writing style in Babbitt. One reviewer said "There is no plot whatever... Babbitt simply grows two years older as the tale unfolds." Lewis presents a chronological series of scenes in the life of his title character. After introducing George F. Babbitt as a middle-aged man, "nimble in the calling of selling houses for more than people could afford to pay," Lewis presents a meticulously detailed description of Babbitt's morning routine.

Available since: 04/14/2017.

Print length: 265 pages.

Other books that might interest you

Murder by Valentine Candy

Gregg Sapp

Oh, the irony! Billionaire ladies’ man Adam Erb is murdered by lethal valentine candy.
On Valentine’s Day, notorious bad boy and right-wing podcaster Adam Erb is found dead in the back of his limousine, his mouth stuffed full of erectile dysfunction pills disguised as candy hearts. Huck Carp, an adversary of Erb’s and a doctoral student in applied sociology, suggests to police that the perpetrator is a severe psychopath. Imagine his surprise when, in front of his would-be girlfriend, they arrest him for the crime.
To prove his innocence, and save his relationship, Huck must utilize all his academic research skills. Aided by friends from his favorite donut shop, he follows the trail of evidence from viral social media hashtags to private performances at the Booti Tooti Gentlemen’s Club, and behind the velvet curtain at the mysterious Society of Enlightened Celibate Savants (SECS). Huck is an intellectual, not a lover, but the deeper he probes, the more he realizes that solving this crime will require him to look into his own heart.
EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS a satirical, down-right funny novel sure to keep a smile on your face.Books by Gregg Sapp:Fresh News Straight from HeavenHolidazed - Book 1: Halloween from the Other SideHolidazed - Book 2: The Christmas Donut RevolutionHolidazed - Book 3: Upside-Down Independence DayHolidazed - Book 4: Murder by Valentine CandyMore Great Fiction from Evolved Publishing:Hannah's Voice by Robb GrindstaffThe Colonel and the Bee by Patrick CanningDeep Mud by Ty Spencer VosslerIndivisible by Julia Camp

Show book

Who Is Martha?

Marjana Gaponenko

“Vividly drawn characters, history, music, birds, love, loneliness, and wisdom . . . A brilliant book, rich and satisfying as a Viennese torte” (Sy Montgomery, author of Birdology).   In this poignant yet rollicking novel, ninety-six-year-old ornithologist Luka Levadski forgoes treatment for lung cancer and moves from Ukraine to Vienna to make a grand exit in a luxury suite at the Hotel Imperial. He reflects on his past while indulging in Viennese cakes and savoring music in a gilded concert hall. Levadski was born in 1914, the same year that Martha—the last of the now-extinct passenger pigeons—died. Levadski too has an acute sense of being the last of a species.   He may have devoted much of his existence to studying birds, but now he befriends a hotel butler and another elderly guest, who also doesn’t have much time left, to share in the lively escapades of his final days. This gloriously written tale is “a book like a fantastic party, as unshakeable as a child’s faith [that] astonishes to the very end” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung).

Show book

Stupidity

Amy Lowell

LibriVox volunteers bring you 15 recordings of Stupidity by Amy Lowell. This was the Weekly Poetry project for October 31st, 2010.

Show book

Comedy Sex God

Pete Holmes

Part autobiography, part philosophical inquiry, part sacred quest—The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck for the spiritual seeker—a hilarious, profound, and enlightening romp around the fertile mind of stand-out stand-up comedian, host of the hugely successful podcast You Made it Weird, and star of HBO’s Crashing, Pete Holmes 
Growing up as evangelical Christian outside Boston, Pete Holmes was taught that drugs, alcohol, and pre-marital sex were serious transgressions. Faithful to the tenets of his faith, Pete did not swear, did not drink, did not smoke, and did not fornicate. He did devote himself to one woman, married her, and moved to the country to start a simple life and build a family. Then the wife he pledged himself to cheated on him very publicly. Thanks for nothing, God. 
When his attempt at a picture-perfect life failed, Pete was forced to re-examine his beliefs. But neither atheism, Christianity, nor copious bottles of Yellow Tail led to enlightenment. Longing for a model of faith that served him and his newfound uncertainties about the universe—you know, the little things—the scorned believer embarked on a soul-seeking journey that has become the foundation of his work today. Comedy Sex God is his funny, thoughtful, straight-from-the-heart mediation on life, creativity, love, God, and the things that matter to him—and to us all.  
Pete ponders the most valuable spiritual truths he’s picked up in his post-religion life and shares a few personal stories—of professional success, failure, and the pain in his balls. Comedy Sex God is celebration of losing something to find something else—a void that became a door to spiritual exploration—a glorious journey into the mind-blowing unknown that never would have begun if your wife hadn’t cheated with a guy named Rocco.

Show book

Abbott and Costello: Job at a...

Bud Abbott, Lou Costello

Costello has just returned from his uncle's farm, where he's been working. Costello gets a Mother's Day job at Beaglebottom's Department Store. Guest Claire Trevor visits the store to buy perfume.

Show book

Olive Grove at the Edge of the...

Jared Gulian

The hilarious and endearing true tale of two urban Americans who escaped to a tiny olive farm in rural New Zealand. 
For Jared Gulian, leaving the United States and coming to tiny Wellington, New Zealand, was a big enough switch from the bright lights of big cities. So when his partner CJ decided they just had to buy a rundown olive grove in the Wairarapa Valley, it was almost too much to cope with. 
First they'd have to drive over the dangerous Remutaka ranges to get there, and Jared was terrified of heights. Then they'd have to figure out what on earth you do with 500 olive trees that hadn't been pruned for years, a geriatric rooster, warring hens, an obese kunekune pig, cast sheep, marauding cattle, and understanding your neighbors when they said "yiece" but meant "yes." 
In this delightful memoir, Jared Gulian describes the first four years of their new life in the country, its disasters and small triumphs, its surprises and pleasures. But most of all he describes the warmth of the local community that welcomed them, saved them from certain peril, taught them how to cook, how to care for animals, and how to understand and love the land. 
If you love Peter Mayle, David Sedaris, Frances Mayes, or James Herriot, this charming adventure is for you. 
Buy now for a story that will feed your heart and make you smile.

Show book