Sinclair Lewis’ 1935 satire, It Can’t Happen Here, has been flying off the shelves of some major booksellers since the presidential election.
The book is currently sold out on Amazon (though it will ship on Thursday) and is N0. 1 in U.S. Classics, No. 7 in all Classics and No. 8 in Political Genre Fiction. Time reports that Books-a-Million was sold out, though now they appear to have restocked their inventory.
The novel, which was written in the era of Hilter’s rise to power in Nazi Germany, is about a fascist that rises to power in the United States. Here is more about the book:
A cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, it is an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. Written during the Great Depression, when the country was largely oblivious to Hitler s aggression, it juxtaposes sharp political satire with the chillingly realistic rise of a president who becomes a dictator to save the nation from welfare cheats, sex, crime, and a liberal press. Called a message to thinking Americans by the Springfield Republican when it was published in 1935, It Can t Happen Here is a shockingly prescient novel that remains as fresh and contemporary as today s news.