Backgrounds includes five of Anderson's letters, which illustrate his ideas about the stories: memoirs in which he wrestles with the revision process: and eight reviews of Winesburg, Ohio by Anderson's contemporaries, among them H. L. Mencken and William Faulkner.

Set against the backdrop of a fictional 1890s town, Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio depicts the not-so-simple lives of its residents. The text of this Norton Critical Edition is that of the first book edition, published in 1919. and includes Harald Toksvig's original map of the fictional Winesburg. Ample annotation is provided throughout.

"Backgrounds" includes five of Anderson's letters, which illustrate his ideas about the stories: memoirs in which he wrestles with the revision process: and eight reviews of Winesburg, Ohio by Anderson's contemporaries, among them H. L. Mencken and William Faulkner.

"Criticism" collects six of the most illuminating assessments of the book published in the last three decades. A variety of perspectives is provided by Waher B. Hideout, Sally Adair Rigsbee, John Updike, Joseph Dewey, Kim Townsend, and David Stouck.

A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are included.ABOUT THE SEFIIES: Each Norton Critical Edition inc]udes an authoritative text contextual and source materials, and a wide range of interpretations from contemporary perspectives to the most current critical theory as well as a bibliography and. in many cases, a chronology of the author's life and work.

Preface

Note on the Text

The Text of Winesborg, Ohio

 Map of Winesburg, Ohio

 The Tales and the Persons

Backgrounds and Contexts

 LETTERS

 To Waldo Frank (November 14, 1916)

 To Waldo Frank (December 14, 1916)

 To Arthur H Smith (June 6, 1932)

 To Arthur Barton (November 26, 1932)

 To George Freitag (August 27, 1938)

 MEMOIRS

 Sherwood Anderson·[The Writing of Winesburg]

 The Finding

 REVIEWS

 Heywood Broun·From the New York Tribune

 (May 31, 1919)

 Burton Rascoe·From the Chicago Tribune (June 7, 1919)

 Maxwell Anderson·A Country Town (June 25, 1919)

 H. L. Mencken·[A Book of Uncommon Merit]

 (June 28,1919)

 William Lyon Phelps·From The New York Times Book Review

 (June 29, 1919)

 Anonymous·Sordid Tales (July 19, 1919)

 John Nicholas Beffel·Small Towns and Broken Lives

 (September 21, 1919)

 William Faulkner·From the Dallas Morning News

 (April 26, 1925)

Criticism

 Walter B. Rideout·The Simplicity of Winesburg, Ohio

 Sally Adair Rigsbee·The Feminine in Winesburg, Ohio

 John Updike·Twisted Apples

 Joseph Dewey·No God in the Sky and No God in Myself:

 "Godliness" and Anderson's Winesburg

 Kim Townsend·[The Achievement of Winesburg]

 David Stouck·Anderson's Expressionist Art

Sherwood Anderson: A Chronology

Selected Bibliography