Free Air
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| Free Air | |
| Author | Sinclair Lewis |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Road novel |
| Publication date | 1919 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 370 pp |
| ISBN | NA & (reissue ISBN 0-8032-7943-4) |
Free Air is a novel written by Sinclair Lewis.
[edit] Plot summary
Long before Jack Kerouac penned his famous American roadtrip epic, Sinclair Lewis wrote what may in fact be the seminal work of the genre[citation needed]. This cheerful little road novel, published in 1919, is about Claire Boltwood, who, in the early days of the 20th century, travels by automobile from New York City to the Pacific Northwest, where she falls in love with a nice, down-to-earth young man and gives up her snobbish Estate. (From the Book Stub)
From a critical perspective, Free Air is consistent with Sinclair Lewis' lean towards Leftist politics, which he displays in his other works (most notably in It Can't Happen Here). Examples of his politics in Free Air are found in Lewis' emphasis on the heroic role played by the book's protagonist, Milt Dagget, a working class everyman type. Conversely, Lewis presents nearly every upper-class character in Claire Boltwood's world (including her railroad-mogul father) as being snobby elitists. The story also champions the democratic nature of the automobile, versus the more aristocratic railroad travel. Lewis' showing favoritism towards the freedom, which automobiles would eventually accord the working and middle classes, bolster the leftist aesthetic[clarify][citation needed]. Free Air is one of the first novels about the road trip, a subject that the Beats (most notably Jack Kerouac), would build a cult following around roadtrip culture, in the mid-20th Century).
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