“Winesburg, Ohio: Queer and The Untold Lie” by Sherwood Anderson

12/24/21 • 57 min

We are getting to know these characters well, wouldn’t you say? There are a total of over 100 characters named in the book, some appearing only once and some recurring several times. Let’s crunch some numbers: According to literary scholar Forrest L. Ingram, “George Willard recurs in all but six stories; 33 characters each appear in more than one story (some of them five and six times). Ninety-one characters appear only once in the cycle (ten of these are central protagonists in their stories).” Ok, enough math. Within the stories, characters figure in anecdotes that cover a relatively large time period; much of the action takes place during George’s teenage years, but there are also episodes that go back several generations (like “Godliness”), approximately twenty years like “Hands”, and anywhere in between. The climactic scenes of two stories, “The Strength of God” and “The Teacher”, are actually juxtaposed over the course of one stormy January evening. As Malcolm Cowley writes in his introduction to the 1960 Viking edition, Anderson’s “…instinct was to present everything together, as in a dream.” Enjoy!

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“Winesburg, Ohio: Drink and Death” by Sherwood Anderson

Not the most cheerful topics. I’ve received feedback from a few of my listeners that these stories are very grim. Yes, I guess they can seem that way. To that, I quote @sparksofher (Khatija Khan) “Today, when we sugar coat fictions so pink that the black reality hurts like pointed straw in our heels...” Can it be, that modern fiction is so “pink” that when we hear stories too close to reality, it makes us truly uncomfortable? That raw reality is painful? If that’s the case, it only deepens my conviction to put these stories out there. My goal has always been to rattle you, enlighten you, touch you; To pierce your armor and open your heart. If these stories do that. I’m glad.

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“Winesburg, Ohio: Loneliness and An Awakening” by Sherwood Anderson

In “Loneliness; concerning Enoch Robinson” some scholars have noted the apparent parallels between author and character, since Anderson also left his hometown, married, had children, and worked in advertising to support his family. What Enoch does with charcoal and paintbrush, Anderson did with pen and typewriter.

Yet, biographer Kim Townsend contends, the more obvious inspiration for Enoch is Anderson’s brother Earl, who moved to Chicago with grand hopes but settled for a dead-end job as a restaurant cashier. “To Anderson,” writes Townsend, “his brother always symbolized the sensitive, lonely, vulnerable people of America.” In 1913 Earl disappeared altogether, and Anderson had no idea where his brother was when he wrote “Loneliness,” which may explain why the story is “one of the most moving of the Winesburg, Ohio tales.” Enjoy!