Marching Men

<p><I>Marching Men</I> (1917) is a novel by Sherwood Anderson. Both fictional and autobiographical Anderson's second novel is a coming of age story that explores the individual and collective identities shaping American life. Although he is known today for his story collection <I>Winesburg Ohio</I> a pioneering work of Modernist literature admired for its plainspoken language and psychological detail Anderson's <I>Marching Men</I> is a powerful work of fiction that helped establish him as a leading realist writer of his generation. In a country of so many varied climates and occupations as America it is absurd to talk of an American type. The country is like a vast disorganised undisciplined army leaderless uninspired going in route-step along the road to they know not what end. At a young age Norman McGregor a misfit dreamer knows this to be true of his country. Fourteen-year-old Norman ironically named Beaut for his homely appearance works alongside his mother at a bakery in the town of Coal Creek. When frustration over unpaid debts leads him to close the bakery a group of disgruntled miners nearly destroys his family's only source of income. At the last second a group of soldiers marches in to protect them inspiring Norman with a sense of unity. As a young man he leaves his hometown for Chicago where he develops a relationship with a woman who introduces him to politics and labor organizing. Unable to shake the memory of the marching soldiers he dedicates his life to collective empowerment. <I>Marching Men</I> is a story of the American Dream for all of its difficult truths and convenient fictions. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript this edition of Sherwood Anderson's <I>Marching Men</I> is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.</p>