Main Street Audiobook By Sinclair Lewis cover art

Main Street

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Main Street

By: Sinclair Lewis
Narrated by: Lloyd James
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This famous satire of life on Main Street, Gopher Prairie, mirrors with devastating honesty life on Main Streets from Albany to San Diego.

©2010 Tantor Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Satire Small Town & Rural Comedy Witty
Fascinating Glimpse • Engaging Narrative • Incredible Voice Range • Rich Meaning • Complex Hero
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A story of one woman's struggles fitting into her husband's home town. She has to deal with the gossip and judgment of the natives, who think the town is fine the way it is.

Life in small town America

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it took a very long time to get to Lewis's point. But, eventually, the story was so engaging that I was engrossed.

Incredible Narration

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This classic is worth revisiting. Narrator is clear, appreciates the subtly of Lewis' prose. Thoroughly enjoyable!

Timely and timeless

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I would call the protagonist, Carol Kennecott, a different name, but I’m afraid it wouldn’t get past the sensors here on Audible. She does nothing but complain complains about the town complains about the people living in the town complains about her husband nothing satisfies this woman. 

A stuck up snob who is just awful to her husband.

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I'm late to the party on this excellent novel which is set in the fictional small town of Gopher Prairie based on Sauk Centre MN where Sinclair Lewis grew up, and not far from where I live.

Our heroine and protagonist, Carol Milford, was born in Mankato MN goes to college in Minneapolis and then to library school in Chicago before getting hired as a librarian in St. Paul. She is introduced to her future spouse by a mutual friend at a party in St. Paul (just like I was!). Will Kennicott is a doctor in Gopher Prairie and the whole rest of the novel consists of progressive, liberal-leaning Carol trying to fit in in Gopher Prairie with its more conservative, set-in-their-ways folks. (Ironically, I also packed up and moved to the small town of Monticello MN from Minneapolis as my future spouse was a college student at St. Cloud State (MN) and Monticello was half-way between where we both lived.) Anywho.....

Set in the early 1900s from just before WWI to about the start of Prohibition, Main Street is a fascinating glimpse in to small-town Midwestern life of the time. The lives of the Kennicotts are told of in great detail as are the workings of the town through experiences of the citizens Carol interacts with throughout the novel. There are numerous memorable characters, which I think is amazing given that this novel isn't *that* long. You feel like you are there and you know everyone. And if you yourself live or lived in a small town you will feel right at home as human nature doesn't change much. I think a lot of urbanites who grew up in small towns will also find this novel especially relatable. Sinclair Lewis was a great writer and storyteller, and once I was roped in to Carol's narrative I was fascinated and kind of anxious to learn how this was going to turn out for her. This is primary a serious novel that touches on and addresses an array of subjects of the times - economics, immigrants, labor unions, politics, religion, gender roles and inequities, social standings, etc. - but I was surprised how much humor Lewis weaved in to this novel, too. And I loved the shout-out to the greatest American nobody knows of: Robert Ingersoll.

This currently FREE in Audible and I must say that the narration by Lloyd James was fantastic. The number of voices and accents he performed for the wide range of range of characters was incredible - from the calm and gentle Dr. Kennicott, to the hysterical gossip Mrs. Bogart, to the opinionated atheist Swede Miles Bjornstam and everyone in between. Wow. He made this novel a great listen!

I give this novel 4.5 stars.

Fun facts:

Sinclair Lewis was friends with John Steinbeck and in Steinbeck's Travels With Charley he describes how he drove from Minneapolis to Sauk Centre to visit Lewis. This was before Interstate 94 so Steinbeck no doubt drove through Monticello past my back yard on his way north.

On our dogcation tour of Minnesota with our late beloved Keenan last spring we had planned on heading to Sauk Centre after visiting the Charles Lindbergh home and farm grounds in Little Falls MN but spent too much time there so missed out on seeing Sauk Centre Main Street and the historical marker on their Main Street, and Sinclair Lewis's house and museum. I hope to get there this summer. Can't wait to see Main Street.

The Sauk Centre high school team name is the "Main Streeters", shortened to "Streeters" on their uniforms / jerseys. Some locals did not like Lewis's portrayal of small-town MN, though. The book was banned from the library in nearby Alexandria MN at the time!

Classic About Small Town Minnesota

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The narrator was wonderful. He made the book come alive. The story is rich with meaning and with so many layers. A classic that is timeless.

Great experience

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A well-written peek into early 20th century life in middle west America from the point of view of a young restless woman trying to discover how she can be a catalyst for change.

Great narration of this classic

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This feminist tale captures the spirit and inner thought process of an educated and independent female trying to find a place, or create a place, to thrive.

Timeless

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This could’ve been a feminist manifesto! The protagonist is idealistic, empathetic, and intelligent yet can’t make up her mind about what she wants. It’s so incredibly disappointing. You think the book is going to end and she’s finally put her foot down to move to a higher plane of existence but NO. Carol inexplicably goes back to her doctor husband time and again. She’s a powerful character but is hamstring by her indecision and inevitable reliance on her husband’s income/place in society. I’m not certain if Lewis painted her this way cause that’s what he gleaned from a woman’s place in early 20th century society as a whole or BECAUSE she’s a woman she didn’t have the resoluteness to decide for herself her own path. The book is banal and long-winded and disappointed me.

My least favorite Sinclair Lewis book so far

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So much of Lewis’ prose all throughout this work seems that of a time much later than when his 1910-1920’s work was published. He was truly a modern, contemporary writer. Like Lawrence, Lewis’ unshyness about matters pertaining to sexuality serve to make his work more bold than much of the work of his coevals.

Worth a thorough listen!!
-Noah Balfour
7/18/25

A Wonderful Narration of a Period Piece Still Quite Relevant

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