Spoon River Anthology
by Edgar Lee Masters

Name: Spoon River Anthology
Brand: Edgar Lee Masters
SKU: 9780486272757
Rating: 4.04 (12214 reviews)

Spoon River Anthology Book Cover — Spoon River Anthology Cover

Highlights

American

What readers are saying

Readers find "Spoon River Anthology" a powerful and moving classic that resonates deeply even after a century. The collection of free verse monologues captures the essence of life and death in a small American town, inviting readers to reflect on universal themes. Many appreciate its rich character exploration and find it an excellent resource for acting monologues, though some note its dated nature.

Powerful and moving Unique collection of monologues Rich character exploration Excellent for acting classes A bit dated in style

Synopsis

In Spoon River Anthology

, the American poet Edgar Lee Masters (1869–1950) created a series of compelling free-verse monologues in which former citizens of a mythical Midwestern town speak touchingly from the grave of the thwarted hopes and dream of their lives.

First published in book form in 1915, the Anthology was the crowning achievement of Masters' career as a poet, and a work that would become a landmark of 20th-century American literature.

In these pages, no less than 214 individual voices are heard — some in no more than a dozen moving lines.

Alternately plaintive, anguished, enigmatic, angry, and contemptuous, the voices of Spoon River, although distinctively small-town Americans, evoke themes of love and hope, disappointment and despair that are universal in their resonance.

This American classic is reprinted here from the authoritative 1915 edition.