DescriptionSherwood Anderson (1876-1941), perhaps best remembered for the stories collected in Winesburg, Ohio, was an avid letter writer. In correspondence with a stellar assortment of writers, critics, and publishers, he discussed his art, his impressions of friends and acquaintances, and his personal life. He also penned lively vignettes, some of which were later incorporated into his fiction.
Most of the 201 letters in this volume have never before been published; a few appeared in works not principally concerned with Anderson. The many eminent recipients include hart Crane, E.E. Cummings, Ernest Hemingway, Horace Liveright, Maxwell Perkins, and Edmund Wilson.
To his friends Anderson wrote vividly and spontaneously of his frustration with the advertising business, his career as a newspaper editor, and his support of various social and political causes. He also described his interest in small-town life and his loves and friendships. As these pages show, Anderson relished life and found it a great adventure. “Even at its worst,” he wrote, “I sometimes wish I could have a thousand years of it.”
The Editor: Charles E. Modlin is associate professor of English at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. |