Winesburg, Ohio

Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small-Town Life short story cycle structured around the life of protagonist George Willard, from the time he was a child to his growing independence and ultimate abandonment of Winesburg as a young man. Each of the stories shares a specific character's past and present struggle to overcome the loneliness and isolation that seem to permeate the town.
Table of Contents:
The Book of the Grotesque
Hands: concerning Wing Biddlebaum
Paper Pills: concerning Doctor Reefy
Mother: concerning Elizabeth Willard
The Philosopher: concerning Doctor Parcival
Nobody Knows: concerning Louise Trunnion
Godliness: A Tale in Four Parts
Godliness I: concerning Jesse Bentley
Godliness II: also concerning Jesse Bentley
Godliness III: Surrender, concerning Louise Bentley
Godliness IV: Terror, concerning David Hardy
A Man of Ideas: concerning Joe Welling
Adventure: concerning Alice Hindman
Respectability: concerning Wash Williams
The Thinker: concerning Seth Richmond
Tandy: concerning Tandy Hard
The Strength of God: concerning the Reverend Curtis Hartman
The Teacher: concerning Kate Swift
Loneliness: concerning Enoch Robinson
An Awakening: concerning Belle Carpenter
"Queer": concerning Elmer Cowley
The Untold Lie: concerning Ray Pearson
Drink: concerning Tom Foster
Death: concerning Doctor Reefy and Elizabeth Willard
Sophistication: concerning Helen White
Departure: concerning George Willard

Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) was an American novelist and short story writer, known for subjective and self-revealing works. After suffering a nervous breakdown Anderson abandoned his copywriting business to become a writer. His most enduring work is the short-story sequence Winesburg, Ohio, a group of tales about a small town in America.