The Egg and Other Stories (Dover Thrift Editions)

Rating:
Summary: Short Stories Must Be Finely Crafted
Review: Anytime we get a chance to read something by one of Hemingway and Faulkner's mentors, it's bound to be a unique treat, but this book will surprise you if you haven't read Anderson before. His delicate use of pathos and delicious sense of humor feel so contemporary. We Loved "The Egg" especially as it seemed to capture the American entreprenurial spirit and its often discouraging results with an especially humorous irony. Faulkner was right--short stories require more of a writer, as every word must forward the author's intent, and Anderson's success here proves that, like Hemingway, he may have been a better short story writer than novelist.

Rating:
Summary: Short Stories Must Be Finely Crafted
Review: Anytime we get a chance to read something by one of Hemingway and Faulkner's mentors, it's bound to be a unique treat, but this book will surprise you if you haven't read Anderson before. His delicate use of pathos and delicious sense of humor feel so contemporary. We Loved "The Egg" especially as it seemed to capture the American entreprenurial spirit and its often discouraging results with an especially humorous irony. Faulkner was right--short stories require more of a writer, as every word must forward the author's intent, and Anderson's success here proves that, like Hemingway, he may have been a better short story writer than novelist.

Rating:
Summary: Sherwood Anderson should be more well-known
Review: I love reading short stories, and I think this is the best collection of stories I've ever read. I hope I get these titles right: I think especially notable are A Death In The Woods, The Corn Planting, Brother Death, The Other Woman, and The Masterpiece. There's not a bad story in here, and there are like 30 stories. I find Anderson's simple prose to be enchanting. His characterization is his strongest point; eighty years ago, he wrote characters to whom I can relate and understand today.

Rating:
Summary: GrandDaddy of modern American short fiction
Review: Sherwood Anderson knew the definition of such matters. In 'The Egg' (great story!), he uses allegory storytelling and an egg to create the definition of success in failure in rural America. The 'EGG' is representational of possibilities and oppurtunities, and creating that gilded goal so many look for, and in the story, sometimes lose focus of. A must read!

Rating:
Summary: GrandDaddy of modern American short fiction
Review: Sherwood's ghost and his readers may not like the ugly pullet on the cover, but inside is a collection of wonderful writing and story-telling. If you write fiction, read it and learn.

Read "I'm a Fool" and see if Salinger was really so innovative after all.