Winesburg, Ohio

By: Sherwood Anderson

Narrated by: Terry Bregy

Winesburg, Ohio, a collection of stories set in a fictitious town in the 1890s, has long been considered Sherwood Anderson's masterpiece. This groundbreaking work set the stage for a new era in writing, greatly influencing Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and John Steinbeck, among many others. Anderson wrote simply, brilliantly crafting a work that dared to examine the darker impulses of human nature. Considered by many at the time of publication (1919) to be a scandalous work, Winesburg, Ohio has nonetheless survived through the decades as one of the forerunners of modern fiction. Haunting and powerful, it draws readers into the streets and houses of Winesburg - and into the darkly complex lives of each of Anderson's unforgettable "grotesques."©1992 Charles Basham (P)1995 Audio Bookshelf

Critic reviews

"...a panorama, with souls instead of trees, with minds instead of houses." (Chicago Daily News, 1919)

Forgotten Author

For all the help he gave Hemingway in getting started in Paris the first book Hemingway wrote was "Torrents of Spring," a biting, although not particularly good, sartire of Anderson. Hemingway wrote it in a few weeks. The fact it is a rarity doesn't mean it's worth tracking down. Anderson, like Sinclair Lewis, was not one of the fashionable writers after the "lost generation" took center stage in 20th century American literature. Perhaps their topics were too simple, with common place characters. They struggle but few of them bleed or die as the other writers would have them. No, this isn't a great novel but in the history of the budding American novel of the early 20th century novel it is still worth reading, my rating not withstanding.

It isn’t broken down by chapters

It is a pain because there aren’t any chapter breaks. That makes finding your place a major annoyance

voice perfectly matches the story.

the tones and accents perfectly portray the characters in the book. The stories are hilariously sad.

Unacceptable audio quality!

The audio quality is simply unacceptable in this recording and there are no chapter divisions!

Listener from Sweden