Winesburg, Ohio (Oxford World's Classics)

Anderson, Sherwood

ISBN 10: 0199540721 ISBN 13: 9780199540723

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2008

Synopsis

There is within every human being a deep well of thinking over which a heavy iron lid is kept clamped.

Winesburg, Ohio (1919) is Sherwood Anderson's masterpiece, a cycle of short stories concerning life in a small Ohio town at the end of the nineteenth century. At the centre is George Willard, a young reporter who becomes the confidant of the town's `grotesques' - solitary figures unable to communicate with others. George is their conduit for expression and solace from loneliness, but he has his own longings which eventually draw him away from home to seek a career in the city. He carries with him the dreams and unuttered words of remarkable characters such as Wing Biddlebaum, the disgraced former teacher, and the story-telling Doctor Parcival.

The book has influenced many American writers, including ernest hemingway, William Faulkner, John Updike, Raymond Carver, and Joyce Carol Oates. It reshaped the development of the modern short story, turning the genre away from an emphasis upon plot towards a capability for illuminating the emotional lives of ordinary people.

This new edition corrects errors in earlier editions and takes into account major criticism and textual scholarship of the last several decades.

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

About this title

Review:

-When he calls himself a 'poor scribbler' don't believe him. He is not a poor scribbler . . . he is a very great writer.---Ernest Hemingway
-Winesburg, Ohio, when it first appeared, kept me up a whole night in a steady crescendo of emotion.---Hart Crane
-As a rule, first books show more bravado than anything else, unless it be tediousness. But there is neither of these qualities in Winesburg, Ohio. . . . These people live and breathe: they are beautiful.---E. M. Forster
-Winesburg, Ohio is an extraordinarily good book. But it is not fiction. It is poetry.---Rebecca West

"When he calls himself a 'poor scribbler' don't believe him. He is not a poor scribbler . . . he is a very great writer."--Ernest Hemingway

"Winesburg, Ohio, when it first appeared, kept me up a whole night in a steady crescendo of emotion."--Hart Crane

"As a rule, first books show more bravado than anything else, unless it be tediousness. But there is neither of these qualities in Winesburg, Ohio. . . . These people live and breathe: they are beautiful."--E. M. Forster

"Winesburg, Ohio is an extraordinarily good book. But it is not fiction. It is poetry."--Rebecca West

Book Description:

Hemingway, Faulkner, Updike and Carver all rated Anderson. After reading the thriftily evoked lives of the residents of Winesberg Ohio, you will too.

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0199540721
• ISBN 13: 9780199540723
• Binding: Pocket Book
• Number of pages: 240
• Editor: Love Glen A.