"Babbitt" by Sinclair Lewis ***

• Originally published in 1922
• US author
• Setting: Fictional city of Zenith
• Quotes:
• p.10..."she had become so dully habituated to married life that in her full matronliness she was as sexless as an anemic nun"
• p.72..."Trouble with most folks is they're so blame material; they don't see the spiritual and mental side of American supremacy........dominating movements like Efficiency, and Rotarianism and Prohibition and Democracy are what compose our deepest and truest wealth.".
•  p.72...."One of Mrs. Babbitt' s  virtues was that, except during dinner parties when she was transformed into a raging hostess, she took care of the house and didn't bother the males by thinking."
• p.109...."For many minutes, for many hours, for a bleak eternity he lay awake, shivering, reduced to primitive terror comprehending that he had won freedom, and wondering what he could with anything so unknown and so embarrassing as freedom."
• Interesting tidbits:
• George Babbitt has a recurring dream in which a fairy child came and recognized the "gallant youth" where others saw George Babbitt .......interesting in that George is able to see the gallant youth in his own son
• Review:  This is the story of a man who does everything he thinks he is supposed to to be successful and yet comes to a point of believing he is an empty soul.  Where to go from there?  You have to read the book!  I will say that the plot drags a bit in the middle, but otherwise moves right along.  Much of the story made me think of the "Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" concept.  A timeless theme!