Stein, Gender, Isolation, and Industrialism New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio
by Duane Simolke
Reviewed by Joe Wright
This book is the work of Dr Simolke. It served as his doctoral dissertation. It shows the relationship between Sherwood Anderson, his work and Gertrude Stein. In Dr Simolke's own words, "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."

Of course the masterpiece he is talking about is the story cycle, Winesburg, Ohio. Published in 1919 about a small town in Ohio becoming industrialized and what that does to the lives of the people of Winesburg.
New Readings would be a great companion to go along with Anderson's Winesburg. It gives you not only the history of Mr. Anderson, but also the history of his stories. In Chapter 4 Men and Women, Dr. Simolke talks about how Mr Anderson's 1923 novel Many Marriages was banned by many libraries and book stores due to the fact that the book mainly focuses on nudity and sex.
If your a tried and true fan of Gertrude Stein or Sherwood Anderson New Readings is a must have!

Pour yourself a little brandy, pull your chair up to the fire, and read Duane Simolke's Stein, Gender, Isolation, and Industrialism: New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio. Better yet, dust off your copy of Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, and then read Simolke's remarkable explication of Sherwood Anderson, the influence that the great Gertrude Stein had on his writing style, and the equally important effect of turn-of-the-century industrialization on Anderson and the stories he tells. In this straightforward, yet literary accounting of Anderson's Winesburg narratives, you will come to a fuller understanding of what motivated Anderson to write his story cycle, what part homoeroticism and homophobia played in the story "Hands" and "The Untold Lie." This work should be required reading in any college course involving the art and craft of short-story writing as well as in courses on Sherwood Anderson, himself. I found the greatest pleasure in reading a while from Simolke's work, then reading from Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio. Simolke's book is a great reading guide, as well as a thoughtful and measured reading experience all by itself. ---Ronald L. Donaghe, author of Uncle Sean

What a pleasure to read a dissertation embracing the poetry and passion of simple language as well as the art of old-fashioned story-telling exemplified by the often underrated Sherwood Anderson.

In seven chapters Dr. Simolke (whose lyrical collection THE ACORN STORIES was clearly influenced by Stein and Anderson) examines themes of alienation, sexuality and gender in Anderson's masterpiece WINESBURG, OHIO.

Bringing fresh perspective to Anderson's best known work (considered by critics to be a forerunner of modern fiction with its focus on "real folks" and small town America of the early 20th Century), Simolke candidly explores sexual subtext.

In "More Than Man or Woman" he writes, "I call attention to all this terminology because Anderson transcends those societal perceptions of gayness; his use of gay themes has little to do with sex and everything to do with human contact."

Do we need still one more analysis of the work of another dead white guy? Yes, most certainly, when it is as refreshingly and unabashedly enthusiastic as Simolke's. Criticized as being sentimental and outdated, WINESBURG becomes relevant again in this unapologetic and insightful re-reading.

If you thought that Winesburg Ohio was good, then you'll absolutely love Poor White. It has a similar feel as Winesburg, except this story revolves around two main characters, Hugh McVey and Clara Butterworth. Poor White tells of how the spread of industrialism affected the agrarian towns of the Midwest.

Sherwood Anderson captures America's change from agrarian to industrial, with insightful and poetic writing. This is a perfect companion to Anderson's best-known work (Winesburg, Ohio) as well as to the many non-fiction books on the same topic (The Machine in the Garden, etc.).

When I discovered this book, I was already writing a story cycle of my own, The Acorn Stories. Winesburg, Ohio became a strong influence on that book, and also led me to write New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio. In Sherwood Anderson's acclaimed story cycle, a small town finds itself entering the twentieth century with loneliness and confusion. The same industrialism that Anderson would explore so well in his novel Poor White also asserts itself constantly here, turning a beautiful landscape into a sometimes desecrated one.

The young reporter George Willard appears in most of the stories, providing a connection for people who feel they lack connection and a voice for people who feel they lack a voice. Though many readers consider this book a bleak and disjointed novel, I consider it a collection of stories that interrelate in surprising, often brilliant ways. As for the bleak part, please also look at the many moments of comfort, the many sparks of inspiration.

I eventually lost track of how many times I read Winesburg, Ohio. I just know I'll read it again.

This book from 1919 really deserves to be read more often and by more people. It is a collection of 23 linked short stories, and is prefaced by a very strange frame narration called "The Book of the Grotesque." Anderson's basic premise is that any time a person clings to a notion of truth, he or she becomes grotesque. This is an interesting rallying cry for cultural relativism, particularly given the time period in which it was written. The stories themselves, which tend to have a quiet, almost meditative tone reflective of small town life in the midwest, are subtle. They usually concern only one or two people in the town of Winesburg, and usually depict a point where the character goes wrong, usually because of stubbornly clinging to a misguided belief or idea. The stories are further linked by the young man George Willard, who for a while serves as the town's newspaper reporter. Highly recommended!

Of the three great books published 1922/23--Ulysses, The Wasteland, and Geography and Plays--I rate Stein's work the highest. It is a bit daunting at first, though you will probably be amused at least by the wit on every page. But for experiments in poetry, plays, and prose, it by far outstrips Joyce and Eliot. The one essential modernist work. So advanced it is actually postmodernist in its approach to its audience, including, as it does, echoes of what is happening now around her so as to achieve a release from time and to become essentially timeless. Try it and see. This is a great investment. The first edition in four separate bindings is worth seeking out, though Stein tends to be pricey. But just read it in any edition. You'll love it. Bob Finley

Sherwood's ghost and his readers may not like the ugly pullet on the cover, but inside is a collection of wonderful writing and story-telling. If you write fiction, read it and learn.

Read "I'm a Fool" and see if Salinger was really so innovative after all.

Anytime we get a chance to read something by one of Hemingway and Faulkner's mentors, it's bound to be a unique treat, but this book will surprise you if you haven't read Anderson before. His delicate use of pathos and delicious sense of humor feel so contemporary. We Loved "The Egg" especially as it seemed to capture the American entreprenurial spirit and its often discouraging results with an especially humorous irony. Faulkner was right--short stories require more of a writer, as every word must forward the author's intent, and Anderson's success here proves that, like Hemingway, he may have been a better short story writer than novelist.

I love reading short stories, and I think this is the best collection of stories I've ever read. I hope I get these titles right: I think especially notable are A Death In The Woods, The Corn Planting, Brother Death, The Other Woman, and The Masterpiece. There's not a bad story in here, and there are like 30 stories. I find Anderson's simple prose to be enchanting. His characterization is his strongest point; eighty years ago, he wrote characters to whom I can relate and understand today.

The novel chronicles the injustices that surround Maggie, who is quiet and doesn't fight back. A chilling look at poor, urban life in the late 1800's, it is also a tale critical of society's judgmentality and questioning of morality. A more complex novel than it seems on first look, it is wonderful to take apart and examine the relationship between Maggie and Pete, Maggie and her mother, and Maggie and Jimmie.

When I discovered this book, I was already writing a story cycle of my own, The Acorn Stories. Winesburg, Ohio became a strong influence on that book, and also led me to write New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio. In Sherwood Anderson's acclaimed story cycle, a small town finds itself entering the twentieth century with loneliness and confusion. The same industrialism that Anderson would explore so well in his novel Poor White also asserts itself constantly here, turning a beautiful landscape into a sometimes desecrated one.

The young reporter George Willard appears in most of the stories, providing a connection for people who feel they lack connection and a voice for people who feel they lack a voice. Though many readers consider this book a bleak and disjointed novel, I consider it a collection of stories that interrelate in surprising, often brilliant ways. As for the bleak part, please also look at the many moments of comfort, the many sparks of inspiration.

I eventually lost track of how many times I read Winesburg, Ohio. I just know I'll read it again.

New Essays on Winesburg, Ohio is a refreshing collection of critiques that are essential for both gaining a critical understanding of the text. All essays are comprehensive in style but do not lack in content. Whether you want to gain new insight on the psychological troubles of Wing Biddlebaum, or the quasi-hero of the Modern Era -- George Willard, or develop your own new angles on the representative town of the old norms, New Essays on Winesburg, Ohio is essential.

While in college, I read this book several times! I used it as a resource for my book New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio. Anyone who wants to write a paper on Sherwood Anderson or teach Sherwood Anderson needs to read this book! It provides a variety of perspectives and shows how Winesburg, Ohio invites many different readings.

Though Anderson has been documented as having inconsistant, shakey work, Winesburg stands alone as his best work. Winesburg was a contriversal and unique 80 years ago as it is today among the great colleges of America. (Winesburg is required reading for many of the great colleges i.e. Evergreen, Reed)Using short stories to illustrate the suffering and pleight of the towns citizens, Anderson raises questions over morality, family, gender, and sexuality. Though the book would seem to be a textbook case of 'Americana' and the joys of living in a small, rural town, Anderson illustrates the bizzare and dark world of American towns at the turn of the century. Every citizen has skeletons in their closets and everyone has fears, passions, and insanity running through their blood.

There are many interesting ways to interperate Anderson's landmark work. While there have been many cases of the book being used in Harvard as examples of American literature of the turn of the century, colleges such as Evergreen have used it to inquire into the sexuality and gender issues that we face today, and the development of the American psyche.

Anderson's book will read like a book of his time, so if you are looking for a book the dictates American history from an Ivory tower 50 years from the future, this is not it. This is first hand history, and first rate literature. This is a complex, exciting, and disturbing look into the American midwest.

Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio" is a string of twenty-one connected stories (plus an introduction) that, like James Joyce's "Dubliners", links a community of people to a single place and time and explores common themes. Most of the stories are told from the vista of the recurring central character George Willard, the local newspaper reporter and a sort of alter ego of Anderson, who used his own rural hometown of Clyde, Ohio, as a model for Winesburg.

Rather than an idyllic portrayal of American small town life in the 1890's, these stories are about psychological isolation, loneliness, and sexual repression and frustration brought about by small town mores. These people are as sad and neurotic as any that might be found living in the big cities. Anderson calls them "grotesques," people who are warped by the sanctimoniousness of provincial piety and their own inhibitions. His nonchalant, ironic way of writing understates the peculiarity and the gloominess of the stories.

The stories are loaded with symbolism that is difficult to decipher. My favorite is probably the four-part "Godliness", which, in a satire of religious fervor, merges parodies of the biblical tales of Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac and David's slaying of Goliath. But all the stories have interesting allusions of various degrees of subtlety. This work must have seemed quite groundbreaking in its depth, complexity, and boldness when it was first published in 1919.

Sherwood Anderson published this collection of short stories in 1919 all set in fictional town of Winesburg, Ohio. Even though it's written in the third person, it's told through the narrative voice of George Willard, the town reporter, who shows up in most of the stories, sometimes taking an active role and at other times just telling a story.

It is obvious that the writer loves these people, and is frustrated at the isolation and unhappiness of their lives, even though he makes it clear that they hold within themselves everything needed to make them happy. The character in the first story is a dying old writer who is attempting to write about all the people he has known as a "book of grotesques". What follows is the collection of stories, which each character fulfilling that expectation.

There are the young lovers who don't quite connect; there is a old man so obsessed with religious fervor that he attempts to sacrifice his grandson; there is a married man who regrets it all and tries to warn a younger man of future unhappiness; there's a doctor and a sick woman who try to connect. The book is full of people who toil all their lives and never achieve happiness. As I made my way through the book I kept hoping that even one of the characters would rise above the morass. It didn't happen.

The writer has a wonderful sense of place and the town of Winesburg in the early part of the 20th Century is very real. These people were not poor or disadvantaged in the usual sense of the word; they didn't suffer fire, floods or famine. Instead, they trapped themselves in their own psychological webs that made it impossible for them to lead anything but sad unfulfilled lives. This is a fine book and stands alone as a clear voice of its time.