Missing files is one of the many mishaps in publishing. In the case of Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson, which we had published in 2005 in large print, the text file was missing but the cover was not. So I took the opportunity to re-typeset it and open up the leading for better readability. Of course, proofreading followed. And, having done that, I realized the art on the old cover, Grant Wood’s American Gothic, did not do it justice. By some miracle of the internet, Enoch Wood Perry’s work came to the rescue. This wonderful painting is at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Anderson vs. Hemingway
I had never read Sherwood Anderson before. When I mentioned this to a friend, Ernest Hemingway came up, as if reading one excluded reading the other. Honestly, I never could warm up to Hemingway. So when I heard the comparison, I was concerned I would have to suffer through Winesburg, Ohio.
While Hemingway is direct and minimal in his descriptions and focused on action and dialog, Anderson focuses on character exposition. Yet, in spite of his penetrating view of each person in Winesburg, Ohio, Anderson leaves us wondering. What goes on between a person’s inner life and outer actions remains a mystery. In that liminal space seem to reside much more hope and possibility than Hemingway could imply—to me, at least.
Innovatively Grotesque
In its time of original publication in 1919, Winesburg, Ohio was innovative in its use of the short-story cycle within the novel format. The linchpin character in the stories is George Willard. He grows up and leaves Winesburg during the chronological arc of the tales. The stories themselves are not in a linear time order. Because of this, you may want, like I did, to reread and map out the connections in each story. George is there, in some way, in each person’s tale. Yet, each person is isolated by a truth that they cannot escape, release, or fully express, rendering them “grotesque.” Where is the hope and possibility in this sort of entrapment? It is in acceptance. Some things are just ineffable, and no matter how gifted we may be in describing them, they elude us.
Anderson discovered a way to write about his own life without making it all about him and thereby distilled a heady draught of human nature into these tales. It is a masterwork of early modernist literature and among the top 500 all-time best works of classic literature.
Our large print edition is now available for purchase: click here to purchase it from our secure, on-line store (link will open a new page). Click here to download our catalog. Cheers!
