Work of Art

Author: Sinclair Harry Lewis (1885-1951)Year: 1934Publisher: Doubleday, Doran & CoPlace: New YorkDescription:[i-viii+452+[453-56] pages. Octavo (8 1/8" x 5 3/4") issued in medium blue cloth with gilt on spine with concentric impressed rectangle enclosing a gilt laurel branch on cover. 50,000 copies of the first edition in dust jacket issued. (Pastore: 13) First edition.This is the "hotel novel" as it has become to be called, and it shows that odd dichotomy of Lewis that is the decisional measuring stick separating those who love Lewis and those who don't. Here is the story of an artist set against the story of a hotel clerk and here is Lewis equating art and hotel management. Most critics feel that this is not Lewis at his best because of this equation, that in setting out to talk about art, he ends up knee-deep in the hotel business. Of course, this misses the point. Lewis was the master of finding "art" in the commonplace and there is hardly a novel of his that does not touch on