Poor White: A Novel

Sherwood AndersonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.7

Word count: 573K words
Chapters: 58

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.Poor White: A Novel 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

Poor White is a novel Sherwood Anderson wrote after Winesburg, Ohio, continuing his attention to the small-town Midwest in transition. Set against the rise of industrialization, it views through a young man who moves from countryside to town the tension between traditional agrarian society and the emerging machine civilization. Anderson's prose is plain yet lyrical, adept at capturing the loneliness and longing of ordinary people, a style given full expression here. For readers acquainted with American modernism, the book helps trace Anderson's development from short stories to novels and his influence on later small-town American fiction. As a public-domain ebook, it suits supplementary reading in American literature courses and commuters or bedtime readers curious about early twentieth-century American social change. Note that the book is in English and moves at a slow pace, requiring some English proficiency and patience with literary description.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-language readers interested in modern American literature who want to know Anderson's longer fiction
Literature enthusiasts studying early twentieth-century American industrialization and small-town change
College students or self-learners with some English proficiency who enjoy lyrical narrative style

Not a good fit for

Readers with limited English who need a Chinese translation to assist them
Genre-fiction readers who prefer fast plots and strong conflict
Non-literary readers seeking a systematic understanding of American industrial history through this book

Reading tips

Read Anderson's short-story collection Winesburg, Ohio first; it makes grasping his style in this book easier
Read in chapter-by-chapter segments, pausing briefly after each to note how character psychology echoes environmental description
Consult background material on Midwestern industrialization alongside the reading to aid understanding of the social transition
Keep a notebook of character relationships and timeline to avoid losing the thread amid the leisurely narrative

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

What is the relationship between this book and Anderson's short-story collection?

This is the novel Anderson wrote after his short-story collection Winesburg, Ohio. It likewise concerns Midwestern small-town life and character psychology, but is longer and focuses more on the industrial transition. Reading the collection first helps familiarize you with his narrative style, making this book smoother going.

How difficult is the English, and is it suitable for non-native readers?

Anderson's language is generally plain but includes literary description and long psychological passages, so it is not entry-level English reading. Readers with college English proficiency (CET-4 or above) accustomed to English novels will get into it more easily; those with less reading experience might start with his shorter pieces.

As a public-domain ebook, what should I note about the edition?

This book comes from Project Gutenberg as a public-domain electronic text, typically the original English version without modern scholarly notes or introduction. For background explanation, pair it with a history of American literature or Anderson studies; when citing, verify the page or chapter location of specific passages.

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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.