It Can't Happen Here

That is the title of a 1935 novel by Sinclair Lewis set one year in the future -- in 1936. It is also the latest book I have started reading along with about eight other books I am trying to read at the same time!

I am only on the third chapter so naturally cannot give a full report. I can say, however, that this is Sinclair Lewis in his prime. The writing is clear, descriptive, lively, sharp-witted, often funny. In the opening pages, the main characters in a town in Vermont argue whether fascism could ever come to America. The town's pre-eminent banker says it could never happen in America, but if there ever were a dictator it could be a very good thing for efficiency and decency. The town's intellectual conscience argues that such a thing could indeed happen in the U.S. and gives as evidence the Ku Klux Klan, the monkey trial in Tennessee, the shooting of persons merely suspected of boot-legging, and other sundry examples.

Based on what I have heard about this book, and what I have already read, I am inclined to highly recommend it for your consideration.