Windy McPherson's Son

Sherwood AndersonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 590K words
Chapters: 59

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Windy McPherson's Son by Sherwood AndersonAuthor: Anderson, Sherwood, 1876-1941,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Feb 1, 2005

Editor's review

Sherwood Anderson's first novel, a public-domain English eBook. It follows Sam, son of Windy McPherson, from a country boyhood through his ventures in the city and his later reckoning with the road he has taken, bearing clear autobiographical traces and the atmosphere of a Midwestern American small town. Compared with Anderson's later, more compressed short stories, this novel spreads wider, with more intricate relationships and social scenes, revealing the early shape of his concern with ordinary people's inner longings and disappointments. For readers seeking to understand the transition in early twentieth-century American literature from regional narrative to modern psychological portraiture, this book offers a valuable starting point. Watch as you read for the motives behind Sam's repeated departures and returns, and for how the author uses everyday dialogue and detail to present class, marriage, and ambition. As a public-domain eBook, it suits on-screen note-taking on character relationships and also invites reading alongside Winesburg, Ohio to observe changes in the author's technique.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early twentieth-century American literature and the coming-of-age novel
Literature lovers who want to understand Sherwood Anderson's starting point and stylistic evolution
Students who need a public-domain English text for reading practice or textual analysis
Readers who enjoy small-town narratives and detailed psychological portrayal

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong plots and fast-paced stories
Readers hoping for Anderson's most mature short-story style
Those with limited stamina for English reading who tend to give up on long stretches of exposition

Reading tips

First map the timeline of Sam's several departures from and returns to his hometown to grasp the main arc of growth
Record how the main characters' relationships with Sam change, so minor figures do not distract you
After finishing, read a representative Anderson short story to compare differences in narrative pace and psychological description
When English sentences run long, read chapter by chapter and summarize the key points in two or three sentences at the end of each

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this Anderson's most famous work?

No. This is an early novel, less well known than short-story collections such as Winesburg, Ohio, but it helps explain how his later style took shape and is well suited as supplementary reading.

Do I need to read other works first?

No. The book stands on its own. If you want comparison, read some of Anderson's short stories afterward and observe how the same author handles different forms.

How difficult is the English?

It is of average difficulty for early twentieth-century American fiction; sentences and dialogue are not especially hard, but the long exposition requires patience. Proceed chapter by chapter, and when you meet unfamiliar words, first infer from context.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Sherwood Anderson Author · American · 1876–1941

Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) was an American novelist and master of the short story, born in Camden, Ohio. His representative work, Winesburg, Ohio, creates a group portrait of small-town characters and pioneers modern short-story narrative, presenting the loneliness and repression of American small-town life during industrialization through fragmentary depictions of ordinary residents' daily lives. Works such as The Triumph of the Egg, and Other Stories, Poor White, Marching Men, and Windy McPherson's Son continue his attention to the psychology of lower-class figures and social change. His plain, colloquial style and deep portrayal of inner life profoundly influenced later writers including Hemingway and Faulkner. Public information is limited, so biographical details and honors are not elaborated here.