It Can't Happen Here. A Novel
| Title | It Can't Happen Here. A Novel |
| Year for Search | 1935 |
| Authors | Lewis, [Harry] Sinclair(1885-1951) |
| Tertiary Authors | Lewis, Sinclair |
| Date Published | 1935 |
| Publisher | Doubleday, Doran & Co |
| Place Published | New York |
| Keywords | Male author, US author |
| Annotation | Dystopia of Fascism in the United States. The novel focuses on a small-town New England journalist and his reactions to the rise and success of a U.S. fascist movement, its complete abrogation of the U.S. constitution, its violent suppression of anyone thought to be a less than wholehearted supportive, the establishment of concentration camps, and the beginnings of a resistance movement. The U.K. ed. London: Jonathan Cape, 1935 includes a publisher’s note saying that while the title It Can’t Happen in America was considered, it was felt that the circumstances fit the UK also. There is a theatrical version by Lewis and John C. Moffitt as It Can’t Happen Here: A New Version, by Sinclair Lewis of the Play by John C. Moffitt and Sinclair Lewis from the Lewis Novel. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1938. Produced by the Federal Theater Project in 1936 and re-written from those scripts. A new theatrical version written by Tony Taccone (b. 1951) and Bennett S. Cohen and directed by Lisa Peterson was produced at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2016 with a new production on You Tube October 13 - November 13, 2020. Also in October 2020 National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene and other theaters produced a virtual, recorded reading of the 1936 script in Yiddish, English, Spanish, Italian, Turkish and Hebrew with English subtitles. |
| Additional Publishers | Rpt. Garden City, NY: The Sun Dial Press, [1936?]; New York: Triangle Books, 1939; New York: Dell, 1961; and without the subtitle New York: New American Library, 2005, with an "Introduction" by Michael Meyer (v-xv). The UK ed. London: Jonathan Cape, 1935 includes a publisher's note saying that while the title It Can't Happen in America was considered, it was felt that the circumstances fit the UK also. |
| Info Notes | There is a theatrical version by Lewis and John C. Moffitt as It Can't Happen Here: A New Version, by Sinclair Lewis of the Play by John C. Moffitt and Sinclair Lewis from the Lewis Novel. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1938. Produced by the Federal Theater Project in 1936 and re-written from those scripts. A new theatrical version written by Tony Taccone (b. 1951) and Bennett S. Cohen and directed by Lisa Peterson was produced at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2016 with a new production on You Tube in October 2020. Also, October 13 - November 13, 2020 National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene and other theaters produced a virtual, recorded reading of the 1936 script in Yiddish, English, Spanish, Italian, Turkish and Hebrew with English subtitles. |
| Holding Institutions | DLC, HRC, L, LLL, MoU-St, PSt |
| Author Note | (1885-1951) |
| Full Text | 1935 Lewis, [Harry] Sinclair (1885-1951). It Can’t Happen Here. A Novel. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co. Rpt. Garden City, NY: The Sun Dial Press, [1936?]; New York: Triangle Books, 1939; New York: Dell, 1961; and without the subtitle New York: New American Library, 2005, with an “Introduction” by Michael Meyer (v-xv). The U.K. ed. London: Jonathan Cape, 1935 includes a publisher’s note saying that while the title It Can’t Happen in America was considered, it was felt that the circumstances fit the UK also. There is a theatrical version by Lewis and John C. Moffitt as It Can’t Happen Here: A New Version, by Sinclair Lewis of the Play by John C. Moffitt and Sinclair Lewis from the Lewis Novel. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1938. Produced by the Federal Theater Project in 1936 and re-written from those scripts. A new theatrical version written by Tony Taccone (b. 1951) and Bennett S. Cohen and directed by Lisa Peterson was produced at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2016 with a new production on You Tube October 13 - November 13, 2020. Also, in October 2020 National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene and other theaters produced a virtual, recorded reading of the 1936 script in Yiddish, English, Spanish, Italian, Turkish and Hebrew with English subtitles. And also in 2020, the Berkeley Repertory Theatre produced an audio version that was broadcast between October 13 and November 13. https://berkeleyrep.org/season/2021/itcanthappenhere.asp#tabbed-nav=seehear DLC, HRC, L, LLL, MoU-St, PSt Dystopia of Fascism in the United States. The novel focuses on a small-town New England journalist and his reactions to the rise and success of a U.S. fascist movement, its complete abrogation of the U.S. constitution, its violent suppression of anyone thought to be a less than wholehearted supportive, the establishment of concentration camps, and the beginnings of a resistance movement. |
