Tennis As I Play It, Sinclair Lewis's Only Ghost Written Novel
Tennis As I Play It by Maurice E McLoughlin, is a novel about the then tennis champion of the United States. Published in 1915, this novel was ghost written by Sinclair Lewis, who was still struggling to put together a career as a novelist during those early stages.
Tennis As I Play It, by a Famous Ghost Writer
When Sinclair Lewis was still struggling to make it.
Maurice McLoughlin was the US national singles champion back to back years in 1912 & 1913, and he was also the doubles champion 1912-1914 with T.C. Bundy. This book was to capitalize off the popularity of the young phenom, and at the time Sinclair Lewis was an author stuggling to make ends meet, so he accepted the job ghost writing.
In fact, this is the main reason why this book remains collectible to this day. It is less valuable than other Sinclair Lewis works because it sold many more copies, since it was sold under the name of Maurice E McLoughlin, who was a sports legend of his time, while Sinclair Lewis would have to wait another several years before his novel Main Street would take off and make him a literary legend.
The first eition was printed by George H. Doran publishing company in 1915, and was illustrated with several black and white photos. Along with Free Air, this is the easiest of the pre 1920 Lewis novels to find, though a good copy is still worth over $100.
The easiest place to find a rare first edition is probably Abebooks.com or Biblio.com.
Links on various Sinclair Lewis Sources
- Best Sinclair Lewis lens
- This is a general Sinclair Lewis lens that I've put a lot of work into.
- The Job
- Lens on another early Sinclair Lewis novel, often cited as his first for advocating working women's rights.
- Trail of the Hawk
- Lens on Trail of the Hawk, which was also released the same year as Tennis As I Play It
- General antiques lens
- General antiques lens.
- Antique Books Lens
- This is a great web site to find and purchase antique first editions.
Great Sinclair Lewis stuff on eBay
You can still find a lot of decent, reasonable first editions of Sinclair Lewis here.
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Wikipedia on the California Comet
Maurice McLoughlin (January 7, 1890 in Carson City, NV, - December 10, 1957 in Hermosa Beach, CA) was an American tennis player known for his powerful serve and overhead volley. He was the first male tennis champion from the western United States. At the U.S. Championships, he won the singles twice, 1912 and 1913, and the doubles three times with Thomas Bundy,1912-14. In 1913 he also became the first American to be a finalist in the singles at Wimbledon. The "California Comet" was the World No. 1 player for 1914. He married Helen Mears in 1918 and they had three children.
McCloughlin was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island in 1957.
Sinclair Lewis Books on Amazon
It Can't Happen Here
Amazon Price: $10.20 (as of 07/25/2008)
Babbitt (Bantam Classics)
Amazon Price: $5.95 (as of 07/25/2008)
Arrowsmith
Amazon Price: $7.95 (as of 07/25/2008)
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Tennis As I Play It by Sinclair Lewis Across the Web
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