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Born Harry Sinclair Lewis in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, he began reading books at a young age and kept a diary. A dreamer, at age 13 he unsuccessfully ran away from home, wanting to become a drummer boy in the Spanish-American War. At first, he produced romantic poetry, then romantic stories about knights and fair ladies. By 1921 he had six novels published.
In 1930, Sinclair Lewis became the first American author to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. The award reflected his ground-breaking work in the 1920s on books such as Main Street ( 1920), Babbitt ( 1922Events January 7 Dali Eireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64-57 votes. January 10 Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dail Eireann January 11 First successful insulin treatment of diabetes. January 12 British government releases Irish prisoners), and ArrowsmithArrowsmith is a novel by American author Sinclair Lewis that was published in 1925. It tells the story of a young Dr. Martin Arrowsmith as he faces a disease outbreak on a Caribbean island. The rock band Aerosmith did not take their name from the book. ( 1925Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s Years: 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 See also 1925 in aviation 1925 in film 1925 in literature 1925 in mu). He was also awarded the Pulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a United States literary award given out each April. Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board and officially administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in the United States. The prize was for Arrowsmith, but declined it because he believed that the Pulitzer was meant for books that celebrated American wholesomeness and his novels, which were quite critical, should not be awarded the prize.
Lewis was innovative for giving strong characterization to modern working women and his concern with race. Restless, he traveled a lot and in the 1920s he would spend time with other great artists in the MontparnasseMontparnasse Tower, which at 209m was the tallest building in Western Europe when it was built. Montparnasse is an area of Paris, in France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centered on the intersection of the Boulevard de Montparnasse and the Bouleva Quarter in Paris, France where he would be photographed by Man RayMan Ray ( August 27, 1890 November 18, 1976) was an American Dadaist photographer and film director. Born Emmanuel Radnitzky in Philadelphia, while also being a painter, object-maker, and avant-garde film maker, he is best known as a surrealist photograph.
Alcohol would play a dominant role in his life and he died of the effects of advanced alcoholism in Rome, Italy.
He created the fictional cities of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota and Zenith, Winnemac.