 First edition cover | |
| Author | Sherwood Anderson |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | John Lane Company, New York |
Publication date | 1916 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 347 |
| OCLC | 635768 |
Windy McPherson's Son is a 1916 novel by American author Sherwood Anderson. It was published by John Lane as part of a three-book contract. Windy McPherson's Son is Sherwood Anderson's first novel.
In September 1907, the Anderson family (at that time just Sherwood, his wife Cornelia and son Robert) moved from Cleveland to Elyria, Ohio, where Anderson became head of the Anderson Manufacturing Company (name changed to American Merchants Company after 1911). [1] As part of the family's new home, Anderson set aside an attic where he would escape the stresses of business and family life. [2] It was during one winter between 1907 and 1912 that both this room and his office (where Frances Shute, his secretary, would sometimes stay late typing drafts of his first two novels) served as the settings in which Windy McPherson's Sons was composed. [3] Though it is likely that most of his first novel was composed in Elyria, there is some evidence pointing to possible edits made between those early years and the novel's publication in 1916. [4]
Obvious parallels can be drawn between the plot of Anderson's own life and that of his first novel. [5] The beginning section of the novel is inspired by his youth, the second "...combined the ways he had tried to make money in Chicago and Ohio..." and the marriage between Sam and Sue resembles the one between Sherwood and Cornelia. [6] [7] The characters of Mary Underwood and Janet Eberly were likely inspired by Trillena White, a high school teacher that befriended Anderson while he attended the Wittenberg Academy in Springfield, Ohio between 1899 and June 4, 1900, and stayed for a time with the Andersons in Elyria. [8] [9]
In addition to the personal connections between Windy McPherson's Son and the author's life made by biographers and critics, the influence of other writers is also seen in the book. Anderson himself said of his early writing that he had, "come to novel writing by novel reading." [10] In particular, William Dean Howells (whose writing Anderson disliked), Arnold Bennett, Thomas Hardy, Henry Fuller, Frank Norris, Theodore Dreiser, and George Borrow, are all mentioned by Anderson biographer Kim Townsend as authors Anderson would have been reading and discussing at the time he wrote Windy McPherson's Son. [11] In his 1951 biography of Anderson, however, Irving Howe denies such influences, and contradicts Anderson's own statement, arguing that other than the "early social novels of H. G. Wells and the radical-adventure stories of Jack London... Anderson's early novels were all too much his own, reflecting in their style the natural inclination of a poorly educated writer to strain for the literary and lapse into the colloquial." [12]
Windy McPherson's Son is the story of Sam McPherson's rise in the world of business and search for emotional enlightenment in later life. McPherson starts out as an ambitious newsboy in Caxton, Iowa, with drunkard of a father who constantly embarrasses him. Eventually, after his mother's death and an episode with a middle-aged schoolteacher, McPherson leaves Caxton for Chicago. In Chicago, he gets a job as a buyer of farm implements and establishes his reputation in business. While his professional life is blossoming, his personal life suffers. After meeting Sue Rainey, the daughter of his boss Colonel Rainey, they get married and twice fail to have children. Following a business deal that forces his father-in-law out of his own company, McPherson and Sue Rainey separate.
One day, once McPherson had become quite wealthy, he gets a telegram saying that Colonel Rainey committed suicide. This causes Sam to realize that he is unhappy with his life. This feeling inspires him to leave Chicago and travel all over becoming involved in various adventures. Finally, McPherson comes across a promiscuous and alcoholic mother of three children. A deal is made and McPherson gets custody of the children. Showing up with the children at Sue's current place of residence, the five of them become family.
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Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency. Dreiser's best known novels include Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925).
Elyria is a city in, and the county seat of, Lorain County, Ohio, United States, located at the forks of the Black River in Northeast Ohio 23 miles (37 km) southwest of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 52,656. It is a principal city in the Cleveland metropolitan area. The city is home to Lorain County Community College.
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Sherwood Anderson 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.
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Open Your Eyes is the seventeenth studio album by the English rock band Yes, released in November 1997 by Eagle Records in the UK and by Beyond Music in the US. Following the 1996 revival of the 1970s "classic" line-up of Yes, the band's relationship with management had broken down and keyboardist Rick Wakeman had once again left the band. While various other members dispersed, guitarist, keyboardist, and producer Billy Sherwood began developing new songs with band bassist and de facto leader Chris Squire to prevent the band from losing momentum and fully splitting. Yes' new management company suggested adding a couple of songs originally written for Squire and Sherwood's other band Conspiracy to help build up material for a new Yes studio album. With the writing and production sessions dominated by Squire and Sherwood, and with singer Jon Anderson, guitarist Steve Howe and drummer Alan White only involved later in the process, the writing and creative input of the latter three members was limited.
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Marching Men is a 1917 novel by American author Sherwood Anderson. Published by John Lane, the novel is Anderson's second book; the first being the 1916 novel Windy McPherson's Son. Marching Men is the story of Norman "Beaut" McGregor, a young man discontented with the powerlessness and lack of personal ambition among the miners of his hometown. After moving to Chicago he discovers his purpose is to empower workers by having them march in unison. Major themes of the novel include the organization of laborers, eradication of disorder, and the role of the exceptional man in society. The latter theme led post-World War II critics to compare Anderson's militaristic approach to homosocial order and the fascists of the War's Axis powers.
Tar: A Midwest Childhood is a 1926 fictionalized memoir by American author Sherwood Anderson. It was originally published by Boni & Liveright and has since been republished several times including a 1969 critical edition. The book is made up of episodes in the childhood of Edgar Moorehead. The fictional location of Tar: A Midwest Childhood bears a resemblance to Camden, Ohio where Sherwood Anderson was born, despite him having spent only his first year there. An episode from the book later appeared, in a revised form, as the short story "Death in the Woods" (1933).
Horses and Men is a 1923 short story collection by the American author Sherwood Anderson. It was Anderson's fourth book to be published by B.W. Huebsch and his third collection after the successful short story cycle Winesburg, Ohio. The book was dedicated to writer Theodore Dreiser and included a two-page essay about him titled "Dreiser" in addition to a foreword and nine stories.
Thaddeus Baker Hurd was an architect and historian who is known for his interest and extensive research in the history of the city of Clyde, Ohio, United States. Hurd had several jobs in the field of architecture until his retirement in 1967. He was the founder of the Clyde Heritage League, a historical society. His work was contributed to several museums and libraries.
Windy McPherson's Son public domain audiobook at LibriVox