Main Street

Why it’s on the list: Lewis’s satire of small-town Minnesota through Carol Kennicott, the newcomer who tries to reform Gopher Prairie. Steinbeck passes through Lewis’s Sauk Centre in Travels with Charley and reflects on how the town turned on him and later claimed him.

Where I saw it: Named in Travels with Charley — Kyle’s note: “Sinclair Lewis’s Main Street - look it up”.