Our Mr. Wrenn: The Romantic Adventures of a Gentle Man is a 1914 novel by Sinclair Lewis and the first to be published under his real name.
Plot The titular Mr. Wrenn, an unambitious and unassuming employee of a novelty toy company, quits his job after inheriting a fortune from his late father and decides to spend his newfound wealth traveling the world.
Reception The book sold nine thousand copies.Lingeman, Richard. Sinclair Lewis: Rebel from Main Street Random House, 2002.
The book did not get major reviews but most of the reviews said it was a fresh first novel with a different slant.Lingeman, Richard. Sinclair Lewis: Rebel from Main Street Random House, 2002. The New York Times 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.The New York Times, March 1, 1914 (PDF) The Nation 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 Nation, March 12, 1914. The American Review of Reviews said "The tired business man will find just the right antidote for weariness in 'Our Mr. Wrenn'."American Review of Reviews, May 14, 1914. Boston Transcript 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."Boston Transcript, April 29, 1914. Outlook said "Constructively the story is unsatisfactory, but it certainly arouses attention--and exception also."Outlook, May 2, 1914.
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