Winesburg, Ohio (Signet Classics) [Paperback]

Sherwood Anderson (Author), Irving Howe (Introduction), Dean Koontz (Afterword)

Book Description

Series: Signet Classics | Publication Date: November 1, 2005

Inspired by Anderson's Midwestern boyhood and his adulthood in early 20th-century Chicago, this volume gave birth to the American story cycle, for which Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and later writers were forever indebted. Defying the prudish sensibilities of his time, Anderson embraced frankness and truth. Here we meet all those whose portraits brought the American short story into the modern age.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in 1876, Sherwood Anderson grew up in a small town in Ohio—an experience that was the basis of his greatest achievements as a writer. He served in the Spanish-American War, worked as an advertising man, and managed an Ohio paint factory before abandoning both job and family to embark on a literary career in Chicago. His first novel, Windy McPherson's Son, was published in 1916; his second, Marching Men, a characteristic study of the individual in conflict with industrial society, appeared in 1917. But it is Winesburg, Ohio (1919), with its disillusioned view of small-town lives, that is generally considered his masterpiece. Later novels—Poor White, Many Marriages, and Dark Laughter—continued to depict the spiritual poverty of the machine age. Anderson died in 1941.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451529952
• ISBN-13: 978-0451529954
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,936 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A daughter's gift..., December 18, 2009

By 

John P. Jones III (Albuquerque, NM, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winesburg, Ohio (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

... Isn't one of the ultimate benchmarks of successful parenting when your child selects a book from her bookshelf, and says: "Here Dad, you may enjoy this"? Of course I had to overcome that instinctive shudder when I recognized the not very "zippy" title as belong to one of those "school assignment" books I had so successfully dodged. Yet considering it is far past the time to reconsider that initial aversion, and that the only teacher I have to please is myself; and then there is the matter of the pedigree of the recommender... so why not?

I did not get past the introduction before I uncovered a recommendation that reinforced the others. Sherwood Anderson was a mentor to both Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner, no small matter in itself. The not very fictional town of Winesburg, Ohio is based on the very real town of Clyde, Ohio, wherever that is. It proves to be located not that far off the shores of Lake Erie, between Cleveland and Toledo. Clyde still has only around 6,000 people, and their website promotes the virtues of small town living. But where is their most famous writer? You have to "drill down" two levels in their website, to find a brief, two sentence mention of the writer who literally "put them on the map." They'd rather talk about their Civil War General, James McPherson, or the Whirlpool plant. So, perhaps the ultimate endorsement: he had told too much about them, a realistic assessment of the town that jars with the "pro-business" image the website promotes, and thus numerous folks today are still not fond of him.

The book itself is composed of 24 short stories; many of them could be "stand alone" in their excellence. In some cases the character appears only in that story, such as The Reverend Curtis Hartman in "The Strength of God," or Enoch Robinson in "Loneliness." There are other characters, such as Helen White, and George Willard, who is a reporter for the local newspaper at 18, and is a thinly disguised Sherwood Anderson, who appear in multiple stories. Anderson's introductory story, entitled "The Book of the Grotesques" about a writer who: "All of the men and women the writer had ever known had become grotesques," which may be a bit harsh, but clearly this book is peopled with life's outliers, and many "lives of quiet desperation." Issues that haunt the papers today were covered by Anderson then, such as the male teacher who may have placed his hands on the boys once too often, and was run out of town, and the female teacher who had "a thing" for a lad 12 years her junior. There is also the voyeuristic preacher, and the farmer who is an instrument of "God's will." All not your normal Chamber of Commerce fare.

Anderson's prose is lean; his characters are drawn tightly and swiftly, and he seems to have a knack for the specific detail that says so much more about the person. There is also much normalcy in the book; much concerns the longing of the human heart, the figurative and literal groping with the opposite sex that is part of the coming of age process, and beyond. As in real life, the relationships can become complex and ambivalent, and Anderson even speculates on the nature of the solace his fictional mother may have been obtaining from the local doctor. Some reviewers were concerned that everything didn't tie together in the end - but I figure that is the essence of real life. In the conclusion, George Willard, just like the real life Sherwood Anderson, boards the train, and leaves town, seeking his place in the wider world. The irony is that the material for his finest writing was obtained during his first 18 years, in Clyde.

Much belated apologies, certainly for myself, as well as those 1-star reviewers, to the English teachers who tried in their Sisyphean task. Mea culpa. And thanks to my daughter for this solid 5-star read.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic, with a thoughtful afterward, October 19, 2009

By 

Jake Barnes "docmoog" (Birmingham, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winesburg, Ohio (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

I'm specifically reviewing the Signet Classic edition, which contains an afterward by none other than horror/suspense mega-star Dean Koontz. Koontz gives an intelligent, sober, and laudatory interpretation of both Anderson's life and career, and an interpretation of the text. The selection of Koontz, one of our most popular and commercial novelists, to talk about Winesburg, one of our most literary and un-commercial classics, peeked my interest to re-read Anderson's great book and read Koontz's comments.

I'm glad I did. Winesburg is full of wonderful loner characters that still resonate today. And Koontz's afterward shows that even the most popular and mainstream of American novelists still has one foot firmly rooted in the history of classic American literature. I think this is a wonderful lesson, especially for young people who wonder why they are "forced" to read books like Winesburg in school. For any of us who have felt misunderstood, felt odd, felt like an outsider; who have made mistakes, gone down, and never quite recovered; Winesburg is a sweet balm to soothe us. This book is as emotionally cathartic (probably more so) than any "entertainment" novel full of monsters, psychos, and killers. Koontz shows that while he writes one type of book, he can equally appreciate another. A good lesson. A great book.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Characters in a small midwest town, March 23, 2008

By 

Reader "cvrcak1" (Boca Raton, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winesburg, Ohio (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

Stories in this book are all set in a small midwest town in Ohio. We all have our preconceptions about midwestern people, their attitudes, sensibilities and way of life. Author digs deep into their lives and psyche. By the time you finish this book, you will pretty much know about every member of this small community. People we learn about are lonely, damaged, with no prospects. They are molded by their upbringing and their first experiences in love and marriage. They all have regrets, yet they are too weak to break away and start new. It is up to young generations to try their lives outside of confines of a small city and whether or not they succeed no one will know until much, much later. These are deep stories and they will get you thinking about them for a long time after you are finished reading. An absolute classic of short american story literature.