Harry Sinclair Lewis was a novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. He was awarded (and rejected) a Pulitzer prize for "Arrowsmith," and in 1930 became the first American to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. His books "Elmer Gantry," "Main Street," "Babbitt," "Kingsblood Royal," and "Cass Timberlane" were all banned in various places and times in the United States.

"Main Street"'s protagonist, Carol Milford from Minneapolis, must adjust to small town life after marrying country doctor Will Kennecott and moving to his home town of Gopher Prairie. She finds the town backward, ugly, and conservative, and sets out to change it. She says "I do not admit that Main Street is as beautiful as it should be! I do not admit that dish-washing is enough to satisfy all women!"

Her efforts meet with resistance, but a retreat to Washington, D.C. reveals that big city life presents its own problems, and she must learn to accept and appreciate Gopher Prairie for what it is.