Thursday, May 28, 2009


In Stein, Gender, Isolation, and Industrialism: New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio, I consider Gertrude Stein, gender roles, gay subtext, the machine in the garden, feelings of isolation, and attempts at communication, as they all relate to Sherwood Anderson's masterpiece. You can order it through most bookstores. Libraries can order it through the distributor Ingram Books; the ISBN is 158348338. Read more about this book at bn.com, Fishpond.co.aus, Fishpond.co.nz, Kalahari, Amazon.com, Amazon.Ca, or Amazon.co.UK.




“Refreshing, interesting and educating.” –Amos Lassen, Literary Pride

“What a pleasure to read a dissertation embracing the poetry and passion of simple language as well as the art of old-fashioned story-telling exemplified by the often underrated Sherwood Anderson.” –Watchword

“This work should be required reading in any college course involving the art and craft of short-story writing as well as in courses on Sherwood Anderson, himself. I found the greatest pleasure in reading a while from Simolke's work, then reading from Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio. Simolke's book is a great reading guide, as well as a thoughtful and measured reading experience all by itself.” –Ronald L. Donaghe, author of Uncle Sean

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CH. I INTRODUCTION
CH. II ANDERSON AND STEIN: SYMBIOSIS
CH. III TEACHERS GROPING IN THE DARK
CH. IV MEN AND WOMEN
CH. V "MORE THAN MAN OR WOMAN"
CH. VI INDUSTRIALISM: THE MACHINE IN THE BERRY FIELD
CH. VII CONCLUSION: CLOSING THE BOOK OF THE GROTESQUE
BIBLIOGRAPHY


From CHAPTER II

ANDERSON AND STEIN: SYMBIOSIS



As I begin to reevaluate the place of Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio in the development of American fiction, I first want to look at Anderson's symbiotic relationship with Gertrude Stein, a relationship most Stein devotees will know about through her The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, in which Stein pretends to write as her lover, Alice. Anyone interested in Stein or Anderson should also read Sherwood Anderson/Gertrude Stein, edited by Ray Lewis White. This book features chronological excerpts from their letters to each other and from their published comments about each other.


Anderson apparently came to love Stein through some of her portraits and through her 1909 book Three Lives. Stein generated considerable controversy with Lives, a controversy she would sustain with her subsequent works. In writing about the critical reactions to her prose, she sounds as frustrated as Anderson often felt, and much of what she says about her frustration could apply to Anderson, who appears prominently and constantly in literary anthologies and literary history books, yet continues to receive the label "marginal.” Stein says the newspapers claim "that my writing is appalling but they always quote it and what is more, they quote it correctly, and those they say they admire they do not quote" (Alice 70). The newspapers, however, reflected the general public, who found Stein's work fascinating and repulsive.






Use the labels below to find Sherwood Anderson and Gertrude Stein links.

Stein Birthplace Marker.

The Steiny Road to Operadom.

Today in History: July 27.

Today in Literature: Gertrude Stein.

The Twentieth Century: Modernists: Leo and Gertrude Stein.

UBUWEB: Gertrude Stein.

Wikipedia: Gertrude Stein.

World of Gertrude Stein.

Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas

Everybody's Autobiography

Three Lives and Tender Buttons

Stein, Gender, Isolation, and Industrialism: New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio

Want more? Click on the Gertrude Stein label, below.

The Abstract Pact: Polybe + Seats Mounts Four (Five?) Gertrude Stein Pieces.

Alice B. Toklas.

Arise and Build! Gertrude Stein.

AuthorsDen: Gertrude Stein.

Bartleby.Com: Gertrude Stein.

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Do Let Us Go Away/Three Sisters. . ./Theatre Review.

Dr. Charles Perroncel at Home.

E. E. Cummings and Gertrude Stein.

Encyclopædia Britannica Article: Gertrude Stein.


Find A Grave: Gertrude Stein.

gertrudeandalice.com.

Gertrude & Alice: This Week’s Adventure.

Gertrude Stein (1874-1946).

Gertrude Stein Bibliography.

Gertrude Stein: Blood on the Dining Room Floor.

Gertrude Stein Invents A Jump Early On (Opera).

Gertrude Stein and Picasso.

Gertrude Stein Biography & Writings.


Gertrude Stein: University of Buffalo’s Guide.

Gertrude Stein: Classroom Issues and Strategies.

Gertrude Stein legacy has last jab at Oakland.

Gertrude Stein On-Line.


Gertrude Stein Repertory Theatre.

Gertrude Stein Quotations.

Gertrude Stein Quotations: MemorableQuotations.com.

GLBTQ: Gertrude Stein.

Hemingway’s Paris: Gertrude Stein.

Harold F. Gilbert Talk.

Heroine Worship: Gertrude Stein.

InfoPlease: Gertrude Stein.

An Interview with Gertrude Stein.

An Interview with Paul Bowles on Gertrude Stein (excerpt).

Isle of Lesbos: Poetry of Gertrude Stein.

Modern American Poetry: Gertrude Stein.

North Side: Gertrude Stein Articles.


Oriental Aesthetics: Leo and Gertrude Stein.

Paris Was A Woman/Movie Review.

PEN American Center.

Perspectives in American Literature: Gertrude Stein.

Poets.Org: Gertrude Stein.

Portraits by Carl Van Vechten.

Project Gutenberg: Gertrude Stein.

“Readings,” by Gertrude Stein.

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose.



Want more? Click on the Gertrude Stein label, below.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Being Human, a supernatural series, will debut on BBC America on July 25, according to a story in SciFi Wire. Another story there gives news about a Doctor Who movie. Read more about Being Human at its BBC home page. The show involves a ghost, a werewolf, and a vampire, in an apartment complex.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Sherwood Anderson: The Free Online Library.

The Sherwood Anderson Review.

Sophistication: Miette’s Bedtime Story Podcast.

The Spartacus Internet Encyclopedia: Sherwood Anderson.

Teach or Write About Winesburg, Ohio.

ThinkExist.Com Quotes.

Time: Sherwood Anderson.

Today in History: September 13.

Today in Literature: Sherwood Anderson.

The Victorian Literary Studies Archive: Hyper-Concordance.

Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia: Sherwood Anderson.

William Faulkner on the Web.

Winesburg, Ohio.

YouTube: Winesburg, Ohio.

The Winesburg, Ohio Photo Album.

Winesburg, Ohio/Self-Knowledge.



Winesburg, Ohio

Stein, Gender, Isolation, and Industrialism: New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio

Want more? Click on the Sherwood Anderson label, below.

Everything2.com: Author: Sherwood Anderson.

Erskine Caldwell Biography.

God Loves a Good Allegory.

Google Authors Directory: Sherwood Anderson.

”Hands,” by Sherwood Anderson.

HarperCollins: Sherwood Anderson.

Harpers Magazine.

Hemingway in Michigan/The Torrents of Spring

Hemingway’s Paris: Sherwood Anderson.

Internet Archive Search.

Internet Movie Database: Sherwood Anderson.

Kindle: Winesburg, Ohio

LibriVox >> Winesburg, Ohio.

The Literary History.

Mid-American Review: Sherwood Anderson Contest.

Modern English Collection/E-Texts at Virginia U.

Ohioana Authors: Sherwood Anderson.

Open Directory: Sherwood Anderson.

Parallel Studies in American/Afro-American Literature.

PBS: The American Novel.

Pedagogy of the undressed: Sherwood Anderson's Kate Swift - from the 'Winesburg, Ohio' collection of short stories - Critical Essay.

Penn State’s Electronic Classics Series: Sherwood Anderson.

Perspectives in American Literature:
Sherwood Anderson.

Random House: Sherwood Anderson.

San Antonio College Sherwood Anderson Page.

Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941).

Sherwood Anderson: A Brief Biography.

Sherwood Anderson: The New Great Books & Philosophy Forum.

Sherwood Anderson at the Mad Cybrarian's Library.

Sherwood Anderson Classroom Issues and Strategies.

The Sherwood Anderson Collection.

The Sherwood Anderson Festival.

The Sherwood Anderson Foundation.

Sherwood Anderson: InfoPlease.



Want more? Click on the Sherwood Anderson label, below.

Page under repair. It will be right back! 7/19/11.

Monday, May 04, 2009

Gay Movie Review: Were the World Mine Gay Movie


Director Tom Gustafson’s musical fantasy won rave reviews, as well as numerous awards at film festivals, including the Audience Award at the Florida Film Festival and Best Music at the Nashville Film Festival. Gustafson based this feature-length project on his short film Faeries, and co-wrote the screenplay with Cory James Krueckeberg.

When a gay teen faces constant bullying, the last thing he wants is to play the faerie Puck in his senior class’s production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. His drama teacher insists, though, sending him on a musical odyssey.

Tanner Cohen plays the gay teen, Timothy. Cohen previously appeared as Tad on CBS’s As The World Turns, as well as in stage and film roles. He is also part of the pop duo The Guts. Like his work with The Guts, this film’s soundtrack puts Cohen’s smooth vocals to emotional use.

Ms. Tebbit (Wendy Robie), the drama teacher, encourages Timothy to look for the meanings in the sometimes confusing words of Puck. Instead of just meaning, he finds a hidden recipe for a spell that turns people gay.

Timothy first dreams of using the spell on the object of his crush, the handsome rugby player Jonathon (Nathaniel David Becker). That seems to work, but the plan quickly goes awry, and Timothy finds his town going from homophobic to homosexual.

Despite the comical tone, this film reminds me a little of Lillies, another film in which a play becomes blurred with fantasy and the real lives of the play’s actors. Fans of that film might enjoy this inventive musical, but it should also appeal in general to fans of gay films or musicals…not that those groups don’t already overlap.

The fantasy elements work within the world of the film, as Gustafson focuses more on emotions, imagery, and music than realism. The resulting film not only looks good and sounds good but also feels good. Gustafson delivers a light-hearted celebration of love, individuality, and acceptance, worthy of the acclaim this movie has received.

Besides the talented actors I already mentioned, Were The World Mine benefits from many more. Some cast members ground the film with dramatic performances, such as Judy McLane as Timothy’s mother and Zelda Williams as one of his friends. Others shine in purely comical roles, such as Jill Larson as a cosmetics guru and Christian Stolte as the insecure coach.

Everyone involved obviously gives all, resulting in a movie that will demand repeated viewings. The music often leans more toward pop than to Broadway, giving it a wide appeal that should help it transcend the audiences I mentioned before. I recommend it for anyone who would like an unusual movie experience.

Thanks for visiting my blog! Please read about my books, including the small-town fiction collection The Acorn Stories and my free eBook Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure.