1885-1951. US novelist. He made a reputation
with Main Street 1920, depicting American
small-town life; Babbitt 1922, the story of a
real-estate dealer of the Midwest caught in
the conventions of his milieu; and Arrowsmith
1925, a study of a scientist. Nobel prize
1930. Born in Minnesota, he stayed for a time
at Upton Sinclair's socialist colony in New
Jersey, then became a freelance journalist.
His later books include It Can't Happen Here
1945, Cass Timberlane 1945, and The
God-Seeker 1949.