The 70 proof staff enjoys three things above all else. And it just so happens that reading is third behind only... well, let's just say it's third.

Every few weeks we'll provide brief reviews of the books we've been reading in hopes of helping you, our valued readers, make better choices the next time you're at the library, book store, or refined brothel.

We rate books on a scale of zero to four shots, with four being a work of true genius.

Feel free to let us know if you have any books in particular you would like us to address.

July 1, 2002

"Main Street" by Sinclair Lewis: Carol Milford is a young woman in her mid-20s that is quickly growing tired of the normal routine. Her job as a librarian is enjoyable, but no longer stimulating. She needs a new challenge. Weddings are always nice.

Dr. Will Kennicott is a well-to-do gentleman from the quaint little town of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota. He meets Carol through friends and immediately falls in love. Carol finds the idea of marriage much more intriguing than the doctor himself. She admires the man but loves the opportunity. After all, his description of life in Gopher Prairie sounds so charming. It's a burgeoning social scene ripe for the picking. Midwestern America at its finest. The best people in the world, or so he says. Carol envisions herself leading a cultural revolution among the plains. She would get in on the ground floor and shape the town in her image. She'd be a somebody. She became Mrs. Will Kennicott.

Carol isn't off the train two minutes before she realizes her dreams were built on soggy foundation. Gopher Prairie isn't exactly the way Kennicott described it. How could anyone describe it? Why would anyone describe it? Her initial stroll down Main Street is a gauntlet of bad taste, foul smells, and homespun stupidity. She soon finds that the townsfolk have more faces than a roll of nickels. Gossip is the local pastime; backstabbing the popular sport.

While Kennicott is a splendid doctor, and a virtual pillar of the community, there is no cure for narrow-mindedness. Yet Carol doesn't discourage easily. She tirelessly tackles the small-town virtues and strives to expand horizons, introducing new ways of thinking, literary ideals, and conversation that doesn't revolve around the price of canned foods or the laziness of foreign workers. She's often alone in her quest. Even Kennicott doesn't share her pursuits. Why should the town change? Gopher Prairie is the best place in the world.

"Main Street" attacks on many fronts. First there's the satirical look at American life in the early 1900s. Next you've got the changing role of women in society. And, most importantly, Mr. Lewis composes a pitch-perfect account of the battle waged every day between the ordinary and the free- thinkers.

Sure, Carol's repeated failures in bringing beauty and life to Gopher Prairie are a constant source of comedy, but there's also a whole lot of depression. Ah, the joys of isolation. Mr. Lewis handles every aspect of the tale flawlessly, delicately meshing humor with the underlying poignancy of Carol's pitiful plight. This is a brilliant work of literature and should be read by anyone that has ever felt trapped in a world not quite their own.

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