Pulitzer Prize Fiction Winner
Arrowsmith
by Sinclair Lewis
Summary
Martin Arrowsmith, an idealistic young physician, follows a career that carries him from a country practice through public health work to high stakes laboratory research, all while he wrestles with compromises that money, prestige, and institutions impose. Lewis brings his trademark satirical edge to medicine, skewering quackery and commercialism while celebrating the lonely integrity of pure science. The book helped establish the modern American novel of professional life.
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Historical Context & Significance
Lewis famously refused the prize because he was still angry that the board had rejected "Main Street" and "Babbitt" in previous years.