Is Sinclair Lewis’s Novel It Can’t Happen Here Predicting It Can?

Amazon briefly describes this novel: “It is 1936. America has just elected Berzelius Windrip to the presidency-and his fascist policies turn the U.S. into a totalitarian state.”

Our reading group member selected it for February. Normally it’s not my preference in reading material, however the purpose of our reading group is to read a variety of books beyond what we normally choose. I’m finding it fascinating.

Wikipedia states: “It Can’t Happen Here is a semi-satirical 1935 political novel by American author Sinclair Lewis Published during the rise of fascism in Europe, the novel describes the rise of Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip, a politician who defeats Franklin Delano Roosevelt and is elected President of the United States, after fomenting fear and promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and “traditional” values.”

Click here to read more from Wikipedia.

 

Julaina Kleist-Corwin

Editor of Written Across the Genres

Author of Hada’s Fog

 

Posts created 283

6 thoughts on “Is Sinclair Lewis’s Novel It Can’t Happen Here Predicting It Can?

  1. Eerie and prophetic? My favorite line in the book and I’ll paraphrase because I can’t remember it exactly: “No, it isn’t Buzz (Berzelius Windrip), it’s the sickness that made us throw him up that is the problem.”

Comments are closed.

Related Posts

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel.

Back To Top

Send this to a friend