Winner:Sinclair Lewis

Main Street, Sinclair Lewis's 1920 breakaway novel, was initially criticized for taking aim at the small-town status quo and its values. Not to mention, its setting of Gopher Prairie is widely said to be a thinly veiled Sauk Centre, Lewis's hometown. Main Street is perhaps one of modern American literature's rarest gems. I say this without hesitation, especially because of the frankness and freshness with which Lewis paints a picture of small-town America's reluctance to accept change, especially coming from outsiders from the big city.
~Larry Ellis Reed, Winona, MN