Editing Sinclair Lewis (section)

===Commercial success===
Upon moving to [[Washington, D.C.]], Lewis devoted himself to writing. As early as 1916, he began taking notes for a realistic novel about small-town life. Work on that novel continued through mid-1920, when he completed ''[[Main Street (novel)|Main Street]]'', which was published on October 23, 1920.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2805 |title=The Romance of Sinclair Lewis |magazine=[[The New York Review of Books]] |access-date=June 17, 2008}}</ref> His biographer [[Mark Schorer]] wrote in 1961 that the phenomenal success of ''Main Street'' "was the most sensational event in twentieth-century American publishing history".<ref>Schorer, 268</ref> Lewis's agent had the most optimistic projection of sales at 25,000 copies. In its first six months, ''Main Street'' sold 180,000 copies,<ref>Pastore, 91</ref> and within a few years, sales were estimated at two million.<ref>Schorer, 235, 263–69</ref> Richard Lingeman wrote in 2002, "''Main Street'' made [Lewis] rich—earning him about 3 million current dollars" (almost $5 million, as of 2022).<ref>Lingeman, 156.</ref>

[[File:Sinclair Lewis House.JPG|thumb|left|Sinclair Lewis's former residence in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
Lewis followed up this first great success with ''[[Babbitt (novel)|Babbitt]]'' (1922), a novel that satirized the American commercial culture and [[boosterism]]. The story was set in the fictional Midwestern town of [[Winnemac (fictional U.S. state)|Zenith, Winnemac]], a setting to which Lewis returned in future novels, including ''[[Arrowsmith (novel)|Arrowsmith]], [[Elmer Gantry]]'', ''[[Gideon Planish]]'' and ''[[Dodsworth (novel)|Dodsworth]]''.

Lewis continued his success in the 1920s with ''[[Arrowsmith (novel)|Arrowsmith]]'' (1925), a novel about the challenges faced by an idealistic doctor. It was awarded the [[Pulitzer Prize for Fiction|Pulitzer Prize]], which Lewis declined,<ref>[http://english.illinoisstate.edu/sinclairlewis/sinclair_lewis/faq/faq2.shtml The Sinclair Lewis Society, FAQ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410044112/https://english.illinoisstate.edu/sinclairlewis/sinclair_lewis/faq/faq2.shtml |date=April 10, 2021 }} Accessed September 15, 2013.</ref> still upset that ''Main Street'' had not won the prize.<ref name="mcdowell19840511">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/11/books/publishing-pulitzer-controversies.html |title=Publishing: Pulitzer Controversies |last=McDowell |first=Edwin |date=May 11, 1984 |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 15, 2018 }}</ref> It was adapted as a 1931 [[Arrowsmith (film)|Hollywood film]] directed by [[John Ford]] and starring [[Ronald Colman]] which was nominated for four [[Academy Award]]s.

Next Lewis published ''[[Elmer Gantry]]'' (1927), which depicted an [[evangelicalism|evangelical]] minister as deeply hypocritical. The novel was denounced by many religious leaders and banned in some U.S. cities. It was [[Elmer Gantry (film)|adapted for the screen]] more than a generation later as the basis of the 1960 movie starring [[Burt Lancaster]], who earned a [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] Oscar for his performance in the title role. The film won two more awards as well.

Lewis next published ''[[Dodsworth (novel)|Dodsworth]]'' (1929), a novel about the most affluent and successful members of American society. He portrayed them as leading essentially pointless lives in spite of great wealth and advantages. The book was adapted for the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] stage in 1934 by [[Sidney Howard]], who also wrote the screenplay for the [[Dodsworth (film)|1936 film version]] directed by [[William Wyler]], which was a great success at the time. The film is still highly regarded; in 1990, it was selected for preservation in the [[National Film Registry]], and in 2005 ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine named it one of the "100 Best Movies" of the past 80 years.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100312060409/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1953094_1953143_1953461,00.html "''Dodsworth'' (1936)"], ''Time'', February 12, 2005. Retrieved June 30, 2010.</ref>

During the late 1920s and 1930s, Lewis wrote many short stories for a variety of magazines and publications. "[[Little Bear Bongo]]" (1930) is a tale about a bear cub who wants to escape the circus in search of a better life in the real world, first published in ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]'' magazine.<ref>[http://toonopedia.com/bongo-b.htm Bongo Bear] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://archive.today/20150307142236/http://toonopedia.com/bongo-b.htm Archived] from the original on March 6, 2015.</ref><ref>[http://www.pwpl.org/collections/sinclairlewis/manuscripts/ "Miscellania"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022063148/http://www.pwpl.org/collections/sinclairlewis/manuscripts/ |date=October 22, 2010 }}, ''Sinclair Lewis Manuscripts'', Port Washington Public Library. Retrieved June 30, 2010.</ref> The story was acquired by [[Walt Disney Pictures]] in 1940 for a possible feature film. World War II sidetracked those plans until 1947. Disney used the story (now titled "Bongo") as part of its feature ''[[Fun and Fancy Free]]''.