Anderson, Sherwood, 1876-1941

Sherwood Anderson (September 13, 1876 – March 8, 1941) was an American novelist and short story writer, known for subjective and self-revealing works. Self-educated, he rose to become a successful copywriter and business owner in Cleveland and Elyria, Ohio. In 1912, Anderson had a nervous breakdown that led him to abandon his business and family to become a writer. At the time, he moved to Chicago and was eventually married three additional times. His most enduring work is the short-story sequence Winesburg, Ohio, which launched his career. Throughout the 1920s, Anderson published several short story collections, novels, memoirs, books of essays, and a book of poetry. Though his books sold reasonably well, his only bestseller was Dark Laughter (1925), a novel inspired by Anderson's time in the American army in Cuba, his residing in New Orleans during the 1920s, his employment as a factory worker and in advertising, and his life in the small-town midwest. Dark Laughter remains of contemporary interest with its Joyce-influenced shifting points of view.