Rating: 
Summary: simply eloquent
Review: After reading the reviews on this web site, I decided to throw my two cents' worth in. I had never heard of Sherwood Anderson, and was extremely surprised by this book. Whether you consider it a novel or a collection of short stories, it is eloquent in its simplicity and effiency of language. One of the reviews on this site calls Anderson's use of language uninventive and not very evocative, proving that styles have changed considerably in the past hundred years. Have we reached the point where we need new "inventive" language to relate to others? In this modern age, we have become too reliant on modifying language -- and word-forms -- to fit our "writing," rather than using words as a tool to express ourselves. If you are truly looking for inventive language, pick up a magazine, they're infamous for "creating" new abuses of English. Anderson's real achievement is his eloquence. In the story "Hands," for instance, Anderson creates an incredibly poignant and powerful tale within the space of a few pages. I have read many entire books that didn't have a fraction of the emotion Anderson consistently packs into these brief stories. The subject matter may not seem as scandalous, but bear in mind, this was written close to one hundred years ago. Besides which, if it is scandal you are seeking, I again refer you to the world of magazines. As for an eloquent sketch of both character and setting, Winesburg, Ohio speaks for itself.
Rating:
Summary: Quiet Desperation 1999
Review: A book of stories that give glimpses into the secret lives of men and women in small town Ohio. The characters in this book could be characters anyplace in the world though. Each has a story, each has secrets, each has passions, disappointments, desires, longing. I personally think that each of the characters in Winesburg are reaching out for connection to other people. They long to have even a moment of understanding, sympathy, companionship in the midst of a life that is big and unclear, a universe that expands above them nightly to remind them of their infinite smallness. This book is as meaningful today as it was when it was written--maybe even more so. As our world becomes more and more faceless with telephones and emails and air-conditioning, wouldn't it be nice to connect to a person instead of a remote computer? Wouldn't it be nice to know that there are others with thwarted desires, stinging disappointments, undying hope, just like us? Take a read through Winesburg and meet some of them.
Rating: 
Summary: Twisting the ordinary and grotesque to build connections
Review: All individuals can somehow connect to each character presented in Anderson's carefully constructed novel. Tales of loneliness, fanaticism, peculiarity, isolation, guilt, and religion build a bridge between each of the townsfolk, illustrating that they are not alone in the small town of Winesburg, Ohio.Amazingly, the reader doesn't feel alone as well...
Rating: 
Summary: A glipse at the timeless lives of ordinary Americans...
Review: This collection of short stories gives readers the opportunity to see through the lonely eyes of the small town people of Winesburg. Each individual is just that--an individual. Each experience and story that has been collected in this book is full of life and emotion, intense at times, and relatable. Though the stories are only loosely connected--in that the characters are all from the same town--the wonderful variety and perspectives of the town's citizens gives Winesburg life with a realistic taste any reader can sink his or her teeth into. As a prospective English teacher, I would highly recommend this book for any high school classroom. But I would also recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading stories with rich characters and vivid description.
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Summary: The secret heart of American experience is exposed here
Review: In the context of today's tell-all society, the kinds of human revelations and insights that Sherwood Anderson wove into the Winesburg stories may seem tame and even pedestrian. But at the time, few good writers were even attempting to penetrate into the "real life" experience of ordinary Americans. His efforts so many years ago are all the more valuable today, however, since it provides us a glimpse of what life was *really* like for some people in much-romanticized "small town America." This novel is really a collection of loosely interrelated short stories, or perhaps even a series of character sketches, but so what? The value here is in the individual images and insights that Anderson provides, not in any emergent "plot." The glimpses into the inner lives of ordinary Americans and the fine descriptions of place, mood, and events that Anderson provides in this work still speak to some readers, at least, today. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
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Summary: Small stories about common folk
Review: Interesting stories that left me with a desire to know more about the people that Anderson writes about. I consider this a great collection of tales rather than a novel since you simply do not have enough time with each character to become attached. Anderson seems to understand and capture the flavor of small town America and that is what makes the book so readable.
Rating: 
Summary: Sorry, didn't get it.
Review: Exactly what makes this such a great work, or, according to one edition I saw, among the 100 greatest "novels" of the century? I listened to the book on tape and could barely keep my attention focused. What I heard was a deadly dull collection of character studies and vignettes exposing the not-so-scandalous secret thoughts of some small town people. Certainly it had a few moments, but none of the stories ever resolved themselves or built up any significant narrative tension. Even the language wasn't particularly inventive or evocative. Characters were introduced, thinly sketched, and then left the stage - sort of like "Cats" without the music. I'm neither a lowbrow reader nor overly culture-bound, but these voices from the distant heartland simply didn't speak to me.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth
Review: First and foremost this book is not a collection of short stories, but rather a novel based on a boy growing up in small town America. However, this town is like no ordarny town, it is full of people made grotesque by the truth of their own past. An eye opening account of human sexual desire and the truths that haunt us all.
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Summary: Where was this book when I was in high school?
Review: Winesburg, Ohio, has got to be one of the most beautiful and one of the ugliest places on Earth. Beautiful for the language of its author, ugly for the nature of its citizens, which he carefully explores, like an archeologist carefully removing the dirt that's kept buried for generations a great secret. But the characters in this book are not a secret. They are very real to you and me. They are our neighbours, our relatives, our friends. And that is what is frightening. I wish that I had read this book in high school. And though it would probably prompt some school administrations to hold PTA meetings so that they could look at what exactly was being kept in their library, I think it should be required reading for all seniors. It is that good.
Rating:
Summary: Unrenowed Author deserves props
Review: A great American Book of short stories by A Great American author who is widely unknown. If you like reading about the human nature by someone qualified to speak to that subject I would recommend this book. This book is not suitable for the low-brow Opra Book club types.
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