The book was a commercial success. It was the best-selling work of fiction in America for the year 1921, according to Publishers Weekly.[2]
Some of Lewis's contemporaries said the novel was too bleak, even humorless, in its portrayal of ignorant small-town life and people.[3] However, Main Street is generally considered some of Lewis's most significant and enduring work, along with its 1922 successor Babbitt.[4]
Contemporary parodies of the book included Ptomaine Street, by Carolyn Wells,[5] and Jane Street of Gopher Prairie, by James Stetson Metcalfe.[6]
Some small-town residents resented being portrayed this way, and the book was banned by the public library of Alexandria, Minnesota.[7]
Because Lewis and his book had become so popular, high-school sports teams from his hometown began to be called the Main Streeters as early as the 1925–26 school year. This name was essentially given to the town by the nearby towns at school events.[8] Sauk Centre High School teams still go by the name in a tribute to Lewis.
