OUR MR. WRENN; THE ROMANTIC ADVENTURES OF A GENTLE MAN / THE TRAIL OF THE HAWK: A COMEDY OF THE SERIOUSNESS OF LIFE / THE JOB: AN AMERICAN NOVEL

(Harry) Sinclair Lewis, (* 188 5 - † 1951)

American novelist and playwright. The first American author to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. The award reflected his ground-breaking work in the 1920s on books such as Main Street, Babbitt, and Arrowsmith.

Our Mr. Wrenn: The Romantic Adventures of a Gentle Man is a 1914 novel by Sinclair Lewis and the first to be published under his real name.

Mr. Wrenn, an employee of a novelty company quits his job after inheriting a fortune from his father. He decides to go traveling.

The book did not get major reviews but most of the reviews said it was a fresh first novel with a different slant. The New York Times said "This rather whimsical story is well off the usual line of fiction in its conception and especially in its leading character." and compared it to Charles Dickens. The Nation said that it was "a story of the ordinary, with an individuality which atones for a certain slowness in pace" and predicted "more telling works in the future." The American Review of Reviews said "The tired business man will find just the right antidote for weariness in 'Our Mr. Wrenn'." Boston Transcript said "A respectful consideration of the claims of plot and construction might be suggested as not out of place even when a person is making his first book 'a labor of love' as his publishers announce he is here doing."[6] Outlook said "Constructively the story is unsatisfactory, but it certainly arouses attention--and exception also."

The book was reprinted after Sinclair Lewis gained popularity in later years

The Trail of the Hawk: A Comedy of the Seriousness of Life (1916). The story revolves around the life of Carl Ericson and follows him through his early life to maturity. This humorous and masterfully-written novel will appeal to those with a penchant for the comic, and it is not to be missed by fans and collectors of Sinclair's work.

The Job is an early work by American novelist Sinclair Lewis. It is considered an early declaration of the rights of working women. The focus is on the main character, Una Golden, and her desire to establish herself in a legitimate occupation while balancing the eventual need for marriage. The story takes place in the early 1900-1920s and takes Una from a small Pennsylvania town to New York. Forced to work due to family illness, Una shows a talent for the traditional male bastion of commercial real estate and, while valued by her company, she struggles to achieve the same status of her male coworkers.

On a parallel track, her quest for traditional romance and love is important but her unique role as a working woman, doing a man's job, makes it tough to find an appropriate suitor.