Garrison Keillor does not like Sherwood Anderson. Or, rather, he doesn’t like Winesburg, Ohio, which was written by Anderson. He once said the book “is pretty dreadful, and it inspired a whole lot of bad books about sensitive adolescent males needing to flee the philistines in their hometowns.”
Keillor should turn his face to the wall. He should turn it there and keep it there. I'm a big fan of yours, Richard, but afraid I've turned my face away from Keillor.
My thoughts went to past high school reunions. We were a particularly close class of about 850 students, sticking together through the years. And I was amazed at the number of women who remained single or did not remarry after a divorce or the passing of a spouse. The longtime single men all seem to have a string of social companions that they date.
I discovered "Winesburg, Ohio," when I was reading Betty Smith's "Joy in the Morning." In that book, Annie was starving to learn more while her new husband was a law student, and it was one of the many books she read. And just like Annie, I ran right to the library to get books listed in other books.
Several years later when I first discovered Keillor's work, THIS was exactly the book that came to mind. (Also Rose Wilder Lane's "The Old Home Town.")
Keillor should turn his face to the wall. He should turn it there and keep it there. I'm a big fan of yours, Richard, but afraid I've turned my face away from Keillor.
Nice article, Richard. Your words have inspired me to reread Winesburg, Ohio.
My thoughts went to past high school reunions. We were a particularly close class of about 850 students, sticking together through the years. And I was amazed at the number of women who remained single or did not remarry after a divorce or the passing of a spouse. The longtime single men all seem to have a string of social companions that they date.
I discovered "Winesburg, Ohio," when I was reading Betty Smith's "Joy in the Morning." In that book, Annie was starving to learn more while her new husband was a law student, and it was one of the many books she read. And just like Annie, I ran right to the library to get books listed in other books.
Several years later when I first discovered Keillor's work, THIS was exactly the book that came to mind. (Also Rose Wilder Lane's "The Old Home Town.")