Beginning with his 1919 masterpiece,  Winesburg, Ohio, Sherwood Anderson exercised an immense influence on American fiction writers. "Anderson was the father of all my works, " declared William Faulkner, "and those of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, etc. … He showed us the way." Written in a seemingly simple narrative style, Anderson's slice-of-life stories often explored the loneliness and frustration of small-town life. This new collection draws from The Triumph of the Egg and Horses and Men to offer a choice selection of Anderson's most characteristic work: "The Egg, " a parable of ambition, failure, and sacrifices made in pursuit of the American Dream; "Out of Nowhere into Nothing, " in which a young woman is trapped between two less-than-ideal choices; "I Want to Know Why, " a tale of innocence and coming of age; and other bleak, funny, and moving stories of restless individuals in search of a meaningful existence.