Track Chapter Length
Track Chapter Length
1 01 - Chapter 1 26:31 18 18 - Chapter 18 23:21
2 02 - Chapter 2 20:46 19 19 - Chapter 19 29:25
3 03 - Chapter 3 29:06 20 20 - Chapter 20 13:13
4 04 - Chapter 4 25:41 21 21 - Chapter 21 12:24
5 05 - Chapter 5 35:08 22 22 - Chapter 22 10:16
6 06 - Chapter 6 47:38 23 23 - Chapter 23 20:08
7 07 - Chapter 7 24:44 24 24 - Chapter 24 25:01
8 08 - Chapter 8 39:07 25 25 - Chapter 25 16:30
9 09 - Chapter 9 20:00 26 26 - Chapter 26 16:34
10 10 - Chapter 10 30:11 27 27 - Chapter 27 17:23
11 11 - Chapter 11 12:31 28 28 - Chapter 28 21:42
12 12 - Chapter 12 8:13 29 29 - Chapter 29 36:26
13 13 - Chapter 13 37:45 30 30 - Chapter 30 23:11
14 14 - Chapter 14 30:26 31 31 - Chapter 31 15:35
15 15 - Chapter 15 25:13 32 32 - Chapter 32 21:48
16 16 - Chapter 16 19:49 33 33 - Chapter 33 20:35
17 17 - Chapter 17 22:23 34 34 - Chapter 34 22:47

Notes

Running Time: 13 hours 22 minutes
Read by: Mike Vendetti
Book Coordinator: Mike Vendetti
Meta Coordinator: Esther
Proof Listener: Betty M.

Artwork
Cover: Recreation of design of the first edition book cover.
Inset: Sinclair Lewis, photo from his award for Nobel laureate in Literature 1930.
Insert: Sinclair Lewis, 1914, author unknown. Library of Congress.

Recordings
These recordings were made using the author’s original published work, which is in the public domain. The readings were recorded by members and volunteers of Librivox.org, which has generously made the recordings available to the public domain. The audio files have been lightly edited and have been engineered using professional audio tools for maximum sonic quality. While Librivox condones the sale and distribution of these recordings, it is not associated with the management or operations of MP3 Audiobook Classics.  




There are brand names and titles that enter the language because of their ability to define an entity or action completely: bandaid, kleenex, and google come to mind. The dictionary defines a “babbitt” as a “person and especially a business or professional man who conforms unthinkingly to prevailing middle-class standards”.  The word comes from the title character in the controversial 1922 bestseller Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis that satirized the middle-class conformity and boosterism of American society in the years following the First World War. George Babbitt is a realtor in the fictional mid-sized industrial city of Zenith in the Midwestern state of Winnemac, next to Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois.  The 1930 Nobel Prize committee described Babbitt as "the ideal of an American popular hero of the middle-class. The relativity of business morals as well as private rules of conduct is for him an accepted article of faith, and without hesitation he considers it God's purpose that man should work, increase his income, and enjoy modern improvements."  The book does not have a plot in the conventional sense. Instead it is simply a chronological sequence of scenes that unfold over a two year period during which the solid citizen and Booster club member becomes disillusioned by unexpected events, attempts to find meaning in unconventional and rebellious behavior, but returns to the fold when he faces ostracism and his wife becomes ill. He gives in but never completely forgets the unrealized dreams.


Play sample: 

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Item Info
EAN - DVD case 0683422134555
EAN - CD jacket 0687700170952
Media MP3 CD
Package DVD Box
Author Sinclair Lewis (1885 - 1951)
Year 1922
Recording
Read by Mike Vendetti
Length 13 hours and 21 minutes

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Babbitt

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Available Options

(SKU DB-1134) (EAN 0683422134555 )
(SKU CJ-1134) (EAN 0687700170952 )
(SKU CD-1134)
(SKU DL-1134)

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