Sherwood Anderson Library
Bookstore
Windy McPherson's Son (1916)
Sherwood Anderson's first and most autobiographical novel and the only one set in Illinois, Windy McPherson's Son received uniformly high praise from literary critics when it was first published. It tells the story of an Iowa newsboy who fights his way to fortune in Chicago, then questions the meaning of his success. It was republished in 1922 with a different ending, which appears as an appendix in this edition.
Marching Men (1917)
Marching Men, Anderson's second novel, is a tale that focuses on the plight of the working man in an industrial society. Like all of Anderson's tales, it's an important social commentary, and not to be overlooked.
Mid-American Chants (1918)
MID-AMERICAN CHANTS is Sherwood Anderson's first and only book of poems. Undeniably influenced by Walt Whitman, Anderson seeks in this collection to sing of the "heart" (geographically) of the United States, and to sing of the rising age of industrialism. The lines are long, and the rhythms almost prosaic; in fact, some view these poems as prototypical American prose poems.
Winesburg, Ohio (1919)
Winesburg, Ohio, gave birth to the American story cycle, for which William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and later writers were forever indebted. Defying the prudish sensibilities of his time, Anderson never omitted anything adult, harsh, or shocking; instead, he embraced frankness, truth, and the hidden depths everyone possesses. Here we meet young George Willard, a newspaper reporter with dreams; Kate Swift, the schoolteacher who attempts to seduce him; Wing Biddlebaum, a berry picker whose hands are the source of both his renown and shame; Alice Hindman, who has one last adventure; and all the other complex human beings whose portraits brought American literature into the modern age. Their stories make up a classic and place its author alongside the best of American writers.
Poor White (1920)
Completed one year after his classic Winesburg, Ohio and long regarded as his finest novel, Sherwood Anderson’s Poor White captures the spirit of small-town America during the Machine Age. Hugh McVey is a protagonist Robert Lovett once called "a symbol of the country itself in its industrial progress and spiritual impotence." A lonely and passionate inventor of farm machinery, he struggles to gain love and intimacy in a community where "life had surrendered to the machine." Through his story Anderson aims his criticism at the rise of technology and industry at the turn of the century.
The Triumph of the Egg (1921)
The Triumph of the Egg: A Book of Impressions from American Life in Tales and Poems) is a 1921 short story collection by the American author Sherwood Anderson. It was Anderson's third book to be published by B.W. Huebsch and his second collection after the successful short story cycle Winesburg, Ohio. The book contains 15 stories preceded by photographs of seven clay sculptures by Anderson's wife at the time, sculptor Tennessee Mitchell, that were inspired by characters in the book.
Horses and Men (1923)
Horses and Men is a collection of short stories that include 'A Chicago Hamlet', 'I'm a Fool', 'The Man Who Became a Woman', and many more. It was Anderson's fourth book to be published by B.W. Huebsch and his third collection of stories following Winesburg, Ohio. The story "I'm a Fool" was twice produced as a short film for television, once in 1954 featuring James Dean and again in 1977 with Ron Howard as the unnamed main character.
Many Marriages (1923)
A Story Teller's Story (1924)
Dark Laughter (1925)
The Modern Writer (1925)
Sherwood Anderson’s Notebook (1926)
A New Testament (1927)
Alice and the Lost Novel (1929)
Hello Towns! (1929)
Nearer the Grass Roots (1929)
The American County Fair (1930)
Perhaps Women (1931)
Beyond Desire (1932)
Death in the Woods and Other Stories (1933)
No Swank (1934)
Puzzled America (1935)
Kit Brandon: A Portrait (1936)
Plays, Winesburg and Others (1937)
A Writer's Conception of Realism (1939)
Home Town (1940)
Memoirs (1942)
Online Resources
Sherwood Anderson Literary Center
Sherwood Anderson Literary Center (the online home of author Sherwood Anderson) is a non-profit literary center and Anderson museum. Our mission is to celebrate the written word for the education and entertainment of writers and readers by continuing the legacy of Sherwood Anderson.
Sherwood Anderson Review - Issue 1
Presentation given by Will Schuck at the Clyde (Ohio) Museum on Sept. 10, 2019, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publishing of Winesburg, Ohio, by Sherwood Anderson.
Commemorating a Sherwood Anderson Anniversary
Among his many works, Sherwood Anderson was the author of Winesburg, Ohio, a collection of short stories first published in May 1919. May 2019 was the book’s 100th anniversary and Special Collections and VT Publishing in the University Libraries are doing something to celebrate!
Sherwood Anderson Foundation
In the mid-1980s, first- and second-generation members of Sherwood Anderson's family decided to use royalties from Sherwood Anderson's books to help writers. It was an obvious decision that followed a course that Anderson himself took during his lifetime. In order to do this, the family established the Sherwood Anderson Foundation, a non-profit trust.
Encyclopedia Virginia - Sherwood Anderson
Encyclopedia Virginia (EV) is an authoritative and user-friendly resource on Sherwood Anderson and the history and culture of Virginia. A project of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH) in partnership with the Library of Virginia, EV publishes topical and biographical entries written by scholars, edited to be accessible to a general audience, and vigorously fact-checked.
Will Schuck on Sherwood Anderson - Winesburg, Ohio, and Death in the Woods
Interview with Will Schuck, director of the Sherwood Anderson Literary Center in Ohio. Schuck discusses the life and works of author Sherwood Anderson, including "Winesburg, Ohio" and "Death in the Woods."
Death in the Woods Lesson Plan
Find a comprehensive online 10-part lesson plan for teaching an entire unit on Sherwood Anderson's Death In the Woods. Anderson wrote his story in five sections, so activities for each section determine the pacing for this part of the lesson. Students explore the concepts of plot, setting, character development, making inferences, and drawing conclusions as they read and think about the text.
Edsitement! - Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson’s “Winesburg, Ohio”: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small-Town Life
This curriculum unit includes three lessons. The first lesson introduces students to the concept of the grotesque, central to the Winesburg, Ohio story cycle, through a close reading of two stories: “The Book of the Grotesque” and “Respectability.” The second lesson focuses on character development within the short story sequence to analyze the experiences of the character, George Willard. The third lesson returns to the concept of the grotesque and with teachers modeling an analysis of this literary element in the story, “Adventure.”
Duane Simolke’s Sherwood Anderson Links Page
Want to provoke discussions of Winesburg, Ohio? In Stein, Gender, Isolation, and Industrialism: New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio, I consider Gertrude Stein, gender roles, the machine in the garden, feelings of isolation, and attempts at communication, as they all relate to Sherwood Anderson's masterpiece.
Sherwood Anderson Wikipedia Page