Sherwood Anderson

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Lore & Background

Sherwood Anderson's *Winesburg, Ohio* was received well by critics despite some reservations about its moral tone and unconventional storytelling. Though its reputation waned in the 1930s, it has since rebounded and is now considered one of the most influential portraits of pre-industrial small-town life in the United States. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked *Winesburg, Ohio* 24th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. The book is typically placed "...midway between the novel proper and the mere collection of stories," known as the short story cycle. Comparisons have been drawn between *Winesburg, Ohio* and Jean Toomer's *Cane* (1923), Ernest Hemingway's *In Our Time* (1925), William Faulkner's *Go Down, Moses* (1942), and several of John Steinbeck's works. The focus on George Willard's development has also led some critics to place the book within the tradition of "the American boy book, the Bildungsroman, and the Künstlerroman."

Reader's Guide

The fictional model of the town Winesburg is based on Anderson's boyhood memories of Clyde, Ohio, where he lived between the ages of eight and nineteen (1884–1896), and not the actual town of Winesburg, Ohio. Anderson wrote in *A Writer's Conception of Realism* that he reacted with "shock" when he "...heard people say that one of my own books *Winesburg, Ohio*, was an exact picture of Ohio village life." He admitted that "the hint for almost every character was taken from my fellow lodgers in a large rooming house..." — the "young musicians, young writers, painters, actors..." he referred to as "The Little Children of the Arts." The truth probably lies somewhere in between, with memories of Clyde "merging" with Anderson's interactions at the boardinghouse. Most scholars affirm the connection between Anderson's cycle and Edgar Lee Masters' *Spoon River Anthology* (published in April 1915), which Anderson reportedly stayed up all night to read. Gertrude Stein's work, introduced to Anderson between 1912 and 1915, also helped shape the unique style found in the stories. Literary critic Irving Howe summarized the pair's connection: "Stein was the best kind of influence: she did not bend Anderson to her style, she liberated him for his own."

Did You Know?

• Anderson reportedly stayed up all night to read Edgar Lee Masters' *Spoon River Anthology* (published in April 1915), which most scholars affirm influenced *Winesburg, Ohio*.
• The first story of *Winesburg, Ohio* (probably "The Book of the Grotesque") was composed in the middle of the night while Anderson was staying on the third floor of a rooming house at 735 Cass Street in Chicago.
• Anderson's publisher B.W. Huebsch sent out a statement erroneously claiming that the *Winesburg* stories were printed in magazines before the *Spoon River Anthology* was published.
• The manuscript of the story "Hands" contained "...almost two hundred instances in which earlier words and phrases are deleted, changed, or added to..." though no major structural changes were detected.
• John Lane, the publisher of Anderson's first two novels, referred to the *Winesburg, Ohio* stories as "too gloomy" and refused to publish them.