Spoon River Anthology

An American poetry classic, in which former citizens of a mythical midwestern town speak touchingly from the grave of the thwarted hopes and dreams of their lives.

Edgar Lee Masters (1869—1950) grew up in western Illinois and worked as a lawyer. In 1915 he published his major work, Spoon River Anthology, which became an instant bestseller and won several literary awards. Jerome Loving, a recipient of Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships for biography, is Distinguished Professor of English at Texas A&M University.