Sherwood Anderson：Collected Stories: Winesburg, Ohio / The Triumph of the Egg / Horses and Men / Death in the Woods / Uncollected Stories (Library of America #235)

Inthewinterof1912,SherwoodAnderson(1876–1941)abruptlylefthisofficeandspentthreedayswanderingthroughtheOhiocountryside,avictimof“nervousexhaustion.”Overthenextfewyears,abandoninghisfamilyandhisbusiness,heresolvedtobecomeawriter.Novelsandpoetryfollowed,butitwaswiththestorycollectionWinesburg,Ohiothathefoundhisidealform,remakingtheAmericanshortstoryforthemodernera.HartCrane,oneofthefirsttorecognizeAnderson’sgenius,quicklyhailedhisaccomplishment:“Americashouldreadthisbookonherknees.”Here––forthefirsttimeinasinglevolume––areallthecollectionsAndersonpublishedduringhislifetime:Winesburg,Ohio(1919),TheTriumphoftheEgg(1921),HorsesandMen(1923),andDeathintheWoods(1933),alongwithagenerousselectionofstoriesleftuncollectedorunpublishedathisdeath.Exploringthehiddenrecessesofsmalltownlife,thesehaunting,understated,oftensexuallyfrankstoriespivotonseeminglyquietmomentswhenliveschange,futuresarerecast,andpastscometoreckon.TheytransformedthetoneofAmericanstorytelling,inspiringwriterslikeHemingway,Faulkner,andMailer,anddefiningatraditionofmidwesternfictionthatincludesCharlesBaxter,editorofthisvolume.