In-depth study of the historical, cultural, and sociological significance of the enduring American classic.In 1915, Edgar Lee Masters (1868-1950) published Spoon River Anthology, a collection of free verse epitaphs taken from a cemetery in the fictional town of Spoon River, Illinois. Stacy, a professor of history and sociology at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, begins by discussing the romanticized myth of rural America that began in New England before moving on to discuss the political and cultural history of the Midwest in which the anthology took shape. Next, Stacy incisively examines the text itself, identifying the "familiar literary types that fueled the book's popularity: the materialistic, hypocritical elite; the soil-bound, exploited populist; and the skeptical community exile." The reception for Spoon River Anthology was mostly celebratory, but parodies also arose, with scrutiny of a "poetic form by which universal foibles could be explored through individual plight-in these cases, for humorous ends." Some critics characterized Masters and a few of his contemporaries as "village rebels," writers working at the edges of "a culture war between the traditional and the modern." Masters responded to these criticisms in a 1939 interview. "I didn't revolt against my village. The best years of my life were spent back there in Illinois," he said, while acknowledging that his work, as Stacy notes, "appeared at a time when readers sought a reformulation of the village myth." The author engagingly tracks the shifting concept of small-town America through the 20th century as writers, filmmakers, and other artists continued to find inspiration in the anthology. Eventually, the text entered high school classrooms, and teachers invited students "to meditate on their own lives." Around the turn of the millennium, Stacy notes, media began to portray small towns "as places where the surreal and freakish happened." The author cites Twin Peaks, Pleasantville, and Stranger Things as instructive examples. And so the myth continues, as does the anthology's influence, brought appealingly to life by Stacy.An authoritative, captivating exploration of a literary landmark.

In-depth study of the historical, cultural, and sociological significance of the enduring American classic.In 1915, Edgar Lee Masters (1868-1950) published Spoon River Anthology, a collection of free verse epitaphs taken from a cemetery in the fictional town of Spoon River, Illinois. Stacy, a professor of history and sociology at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, begins by discussing the romanticized myth of rural America that began in New England before moving on to discuss the political and cultural history of the Midwest in which the anthology took shape. Next, Stacy incisively examines the text itself, identifying the "familiar literary types that fueled the book's popularity: the materialistic, hypocritical elite; the soil-bound, exploited populist; and the skeptical community exile." The reception for Spoon River Anthology was mostly celebratory, but parodies also arose, with scrutiny of a "poetic form by which universal foibles could be explored through individual plight-in these cases, for humorous ends." Some critics characterized Masters and a few of his contemporaries as "village rebels," writers working at the edges of "a culture war between the traditional and the modern." Masters responded to these criticisms in a 1939 interview. "I didn't revolt against my village. The best years of my life were spent back there in Illinois," he said, while acknowledging that his work, as Stacy notes, "appeared at a time when readers sought a reformulation of the village myth." The author engagingly tracks the shifting concept of small-town America through the 20th century as writers, filmmakers, and other artists continued to find inspiration in the anthology. Eventually, the text entered high school classrooms, and teachers invited students "to meditate on their own lives." Around the turn of the millennium, Stacy notes, media began to portray small towns "as places where the surreal and freakish happened." The author cites Twin Peaks, Pleasantville, and Stranger Things as instructive examples. And so the myth continues, as does the anthology's influence, brought appealingly to life by Stacy.An authoritative, captivating exploration of a literary landmark.