''Our Mr. Wrenn: The Romantic Adventures of a Gentle Man'' is a 1914 novel by

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was ...

and the first to be published under his real name.

Plot

Mr. Wrenn, an employee of a novelty company, quits his job after inheriting a fortune from his father. He decides to go traveling.

Reception

The book sold nine thousand copies. The book did not get major reviews but most of the reviews said it was a fresh first novel with a different slant. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' said "This rather whimsical story is well off the usual line of fiction in its conception and especially in its leading character." and compared it to

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

. ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

'' said that it was "a story of the ordinary, with an individuality which atones for a certain slowness in pace" and predicted "more telling works in the future." '' The American Review of Reviews'' said "The tired business man will find just the right antidote for weariness in 'Our Mr. Wrenn'." ''

Boston Transcript The ''Boston Evening Transcript'' was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941. Beginnings ''The Transcript'' was founded in 1830 by Henry Dutton and James Wentworth of the firm of D ...

'' said "A respectful consideration of the claims of plot and construction might be suggested as not out of place even when a person is making his first book 'a labor of love' as his publishers announce he is here doing." ''

Outlook Outlook or The Outlook may refer to: Computing * Microsoft Outlook, an e-mail and personal information management software product from Microsoft * Outlook.com, a web mail service from Microsoft * Outlook on the web, a suite of web applications ...

'' said "Constructively the story is unsatisfactory, but it certainly arouses attention--and exception also." The book was reprinted after Sinclair Lewis gained popularity in later years.A facsimile reprint of the first edition, published by Grosset and Dunlap has a note below Sinclair Lewis's name: "Author of Main Street, Babbitt, etc." therefore dating this edition to the late 1920s or early 1930s.

References

External links

Digitized copies of ''Our Mr. Wrenn''
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

* 1914 American novels Novels by Sinclair Lewis Harper & Brothers books 1914 debut novels {{1910s-romance-novel-stub