Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio is a seminal work of art that has had a broad reach in American literature, influencing such famous writers as Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and J. D. Salinger. Sherwood Anderson had the courage to break from tradition and tell his stories in a unique, courageous voice, touching on taboo subjects and exploring psychological themes rarely, if ever, broached in the literature of his day. Any serious study of modern American literature is incomplete without examining the contribution this great writer made to our literary tradition. Michael Segedy, author of Hampton Road and Evil's Root, worked with the illustrator Jose Rivera in sketching key scenes and characters from the novel.