Babbitt

By: Sinclair Lewis

Narrated by: David Colacci

In this sardonic portrait of the up-and-coming middle class during the prosperous 1920s, Sinclair Lewis perfectly captures the sound, the feel, and the attitudes of the generation that created the cult of consumerism. With a sharp eye for detail and keen powers of observation, Lewis tracks successful realtor George Babbitt's daily struggles to rise to the top of his profession while maintaining his reputation as an upstanding family man.

On the surface, Babbitt appears to be the quintessential middle-class embodiment of conservative values and enthusiasm for the well-to-do lifestyle of the small entrepreneur. But beneath the complacent façade, he also experiences a rising, nameless discontent. These feelings eventually lead Babbitt into risky escapades that threaten his family and his standing in the community. Though published 80 years ago, this acerbic depiction of majority Americans, obsessed with success, material comfort, and midlife doubt, still rings true.

Public Domain (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

"[It is] by its hardness, its efficiency, its compactness that Mr. Lewis's work excels." (Virginia Woolf)

A Satire - and deeply human

It is an achievement to write something this satirical and in many ways scathing, and yet create a central character who, even if inarticulate and morally limited, still grabs and holds our deepest sympathy throughout. The book is as finely observed a portrait of America at the outset of the "roaring Twenties" as one could hope to find - and in its meticulously details and wry understatement, it is also often laugh-out-loud funny. But as Babbitt goes through his crises of identity and mid-life, I was gripped with worry for him, and I saw myself in him.

David Colacci has beautifully captured the "voice" of Babbitt, filled with bravura and yet with this undertow of vulnerability. I read the book in Whispersync, going back and forth between the written and the audiobook, but I preferred listening. Collacci breathed extra vitality into the story and its central character.

Compelling story

When you first start the book it is very boring and monotonous. But once you get further into it you learn to understand the character and uncover flaws in our society.

Mid-life crisis

A pillar of the community begins to question his values and life choices, even begins an affair. Eventually he returns to his family and resumes his life.

A must listen & now a must read

I’ve meant to read Babbitt for years , decades , now having listened to this excellent reading of an incredible ( and incredibly funny ) observant work of art I must pick up an actual copy . Having recently moved to Chicago from LA, feeling a bit adrift , Lewis has helped me better understand and respect these good fellows (& gals) .

greatness

very lovely and funny well narrated a window on America in the 1920s
enlightening! really love the narrator He made it fun to come back and listen everyday