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Sign up todayIt Canโt Happen Here
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Learn moreFirst published in 1935, when Americans were still largely oblivious to the rise of Hitler in Europe, this prescient novel tells a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy and offers an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America.
Doremus Jessup, a newspaper editor, is dismayed to find that many of the people he knows support presidential candidate Berzelius Windrip. The suspiciously fascist Windrip is offering to save the nation from sex, crime, welfare cheats, and a liberal press. But after Windrip wins the election, dissent soon becomes dangerous for Jessup. Windrip forcibly gains control of Congress and the Supreme Court and, with the aid of his personal paramilitary storm troopers, turns the United States into a totalitarian state.
Harry Sinclair Lewisย (1885โ1951), the son of a country doctor, was born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. He attended Yale University, where he was editor of the literary magazine, and graduated in 1907. After a few of his stories had appeared in magazines and his first novel, Our Mr. Wrenn (1914), had been published, he was able to write full time. He was awarded the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Arrowsmithย (1925) but refused to accept the honor. However, he accepted the Nobel Prize awarded him in 1930. He was the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Grover Gardner has recorded more than 650 audiobooks since beginning his career in 1981.ย He's been named one of the "Best Voices of the Century" as well as a "Golden Voice" by AudioFile magazine.ย Gardner has garnered over 20 AudioFile Earphones Awards and is the recipient of an Audio Publishers Association Audie Award, as well as a three-time finalist.ย In 2005, Publishers Weekly deemed him "Audiobook Narrator of the Year."
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Gardner has also narrated hundreds of audiobooks under the names Tom Parker and Alexander Adams.ย Among his many titles are Marcus Sakey's At the City's Edge, as well as Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and John Irving's The Cider House Rules.ย Gardner studied Theater and Art History at Rollins College and received a Master's degree in Acting from George Washington University.ย He lives in Oregon with his significant other and daughter.
Reviews
โOne of the most important books ever produced in this country.โ
โThe novel that foreshadowed Donald Trumpโs authoritarian appeal.โ
“Written at white heat.”
“A message to thinking Americans.”
โThis audio version of the Sinclair Lewis classic keeps listeners riveted to Grover Gardnerโs restrained yet powerful delivery. The 1935 novel, which predicts a dystopian future, is truly crafted for listening. Gardner is masterful at bringing listeners into the workings of protagonist Doremus Jessupโs worried mind.โ
โLewis imagined the rise of a populist figure by the name of Buzz Windrip who rallies to defeat FDR in the 1936 electionโฆWindrip loves big, passionate rallies and rails against the โlies of the mainstream press.โโ
โA cautionary tale about the fragility of democracyโฆIt Canโt Happen Here remains uniquely important, a shockingly prescient novel thatโs as fresh and contemporary as todayโs news.โ
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