Tar: A Midwest Childhood
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.[1] The book is made up of episodes in the childhood of Edgar Moorehead (nicknamed Tar-heel, or Tar, because of his father's North Carolina origin). 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.[2] An episode from the book later appeared, in a revised form, as the short story "Death in the Woods" (1933).[3]
 | |
| Author | Sherwood Anderson |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Boni & Liveright, New York |
Publication date | 20 November 1926 |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 346 |
| OCLC | 276744 |
Composition and publication
According to Sherwood Anderson scholar Ray Lewis White, it was 1919 when the author first mentioned in a letter to his publisher at the time, B.W. Huebsch, that he was interested in composing a series of stories based on "...country life at the edge of a middle-western small town."[4] Nothing came of the idea, however, until around February 1925, when the popular monthly magazine The Woman's Home Companion expressed interest.[4] Over that year, including the summer during which Anderson boarded with a family in Troutdale, Virginia and wrote in a log cabin, Tar: A Midwest Childhood was drafted.[5] Though progress on the book was slower than expected over the summer, Anderson reported to his agent Otto Liveright in September 1925, that roughly two-thirds of the book was finished. This was enough that in February 1926, the installments for The Woman's Home Companion were sent off.[6] They were published in the following order:
| Story Title | Volume and Publication Date[6] |
|---|---|
| "Tar Moorhead's Father" | LIII (June, 1926) pgs. 19-20, 154-55 |
| "A Small Boy Looks at His World" | LIII (July, 1926) pgs. 19-20, 42, 45 |
| "Worlds of Fancy and of Facts" | LIII (September, 1926) pgs. 27-28, 79 |
| "Tar's Day of Bravery" | LIII (October, 1926) pgs. 25-26, 184-185 |
| "Tar's Wonderful Sunday" | LIII (November, 1926) pgs. 29-30, 50 |
| "What Makes a Boy Afraid" | LIV (January, 1927) pgs. 19-20, 96 |
That initial task done, Anderson set to finish the rest of the book, sending the completed manuscript to Boni & Liveright in June or July 1926.[6] By September of that year, proofs mailed to Anderson by his publisher were returned with corrections and, by the beginning of November, bound copies of Tar: A Midwest Childhood were posted to the author. The book was released on November 20, 1926.[7] The book has also been published under the title " A Story Teller's Story, Tar: A Midwest Childhood".[8]
References
- See White (1969)
- Rideout (2006), 16
- Burbank (1964), 126-127
- White (1969), xii
- White (1969), xiii
- White (1969), xiv
- White (1969), xv
- Stouck,David."Sherwood Anderson and the Postmodern Novel."Contemporary Literature26.3(Fall 1985):302-316.Rpt.in Literature Resource Center.Detroit:Gale,2015. Literature Resource Center. Web 7. Apr.2015.
Sources
- Burbank, Rex J. (1964). Twayne's United States Authors Series 65: Sherwood Anderson. New York: Twayne.
- Rideout, Walter B. (2006). Sherwood Anderson: A Writer in America, Volume 1. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-21530-9
- White, Ray Lewis (1969). "Introduction". In Anderson, Sherwood. Tar: A Midwest Childhood. Cleveland, OH: Case Western Reserve University. ISBN 0-8295-0159-2