It Can't Happen Here (Signet Classics)
"The novel that foreshadowed Donald Trump's authoritarian appeal."--Salon It Can't Happen Here is the only one of Sinclair Lewis's later novels to match the power of Main Street, Babbitt, and Arrowsmith. A cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, it is an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. Written during the Great Depression, when the country was largely oblivious to Hitler's aggression, it juxtaposes sharp political satire with the chillingly realistic rise of a president who becomes a dictator to save the nation from welfare cheats, sex, crime, and a liberal press. Called "a message to thinking Americans" by the Springfield Republican when it was published in 1935, It Can't Happen Here is a shockingly prescient novel that remains as fresh and contemporary as today's news. With an Introduction by Michael Meyer
and an Afterword by Gary Scharnhorst
and an Afterword by Gary Scharnhorst
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Community Reviews
This book is very relevant especially now of all times, with everything going on in politics and all. Also kind of scary. Hopefully, it's not a portent of things to come! I liked the plot and everything that was going on and the social commentary. I just wish that, like with many other books that explore political commentary, I could get more invested in the characters. With these kinds of books, I feel like I'm always kept at a bit of a distance from the characters. Not that I don't care about them at all, but I just am not as invested as I often am in other books, so I just don't need to keep turning the page to find out what happens. That often makes or breaks a book for me, since characterization and character development is so important to me. So I wish there had been more of that. But otherwise, definitely a good read and also a good tale of warning. :/
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