Lewis was very honored to be the first American to receive
the Nobel Prize for Literature. The Swedish Academy awarded
it to him in 1930, primarily because of his novel Babbitt.
King Gustav gave the prize to Lewis in Stockholm, Sweden,
and his second wife, Dorothy Thompson, went with him. Erik
Karlfeldt, a poet and secretary of the Academy, introduced
Lewis during the prize presentation in a lengthy survey of
his five major novels. Karlfeldt applauded Lewis for, among
many things, his criticism of American institutions and industry,
his satire, and of course, his writing style. Karlfeldt noted
Lewis's mastery of language in the character development of
Babbitt.
Lewis delivered his famous Nobel Lecture to the Academy on
December 12, one day after receiving the Prize. His speech,
entitled "The American Fear of Literature," was
reprinted widely and caused an enormous uproar in the United
States. In it, Lewis criticized the literary standards and
limited nature of acclaimed literature in America. He also
generously acknowledged other authors including Theodore Dreiser,
Willa Cather, Eugene O'Neill, and Ernest Hemingway.
After receiving the Prize, Lewis was asked two major questions:
what was he going to do with the money and why would he accept
the Nobel Prize, but not the Pulitzer. He told the media that
he was going to use the money to support a young American
author and his family (a private joke: he was referring to
himself). Lewis gave two reasons as to why he accepted the
Nobel Prize: the Nobel Prize had fewer commercial strings
attached and the award was based on a career, not one novel.
More information about Sinclair Lewis and the The Nobel Prize
in Literature can be accessed at
http://www.nobel.se/literature/laureates/1930/index.html
