All roads lead to 'Winesburg, Ohio'

Porter Shreve at the Chicago Tribune.

"If you haven't read 'Winesburg, Ohio,' published in 1919, the title alone might give you the impression that it's a quaint story about the charms of small town life at the turn of the century. But quaint it is not. Most of the characters in these 22 tales feel so trapped and alienated that Anderson coined a term for them: 'grotesques.' In fact, he wanted to call his linked collection 'The Book of the Grotesque,' but his publisher overruled him."

See Sherwood Anderson, "I'm a Fool", in Gateway to the Great Books (10 Vol., 1963) volume 2.