Sherwood Anderson's story cycle about small-town life blurs the lines between novel and short story, while using a narrative style that sometimes blurs the lines between past and present. In fact, this book captures a time when the agrarian past was falling to the industrial present. The characters are often charming, but their lives are often tragic. This book has influenced countless writers and deserves its place as one of the classics of American literature. (I wrote New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio.)