I told you. I SAID SO.

The World Book states that Sherwood Anderson's writing had a significant impact on authors that followed him, like Hemingway and Faulkner. (True.) It also says that because of this, Anderson occupies a place in the American literary canon independent of, and that cannot be fully attributed to, the quality of his writing.

VINDICATION.

I made exactly this argument in my undergraduate class on Modernism - that the quality of Anderson's writing did not stack up against Hemingway or Faulkner on any of the measures of "Modernism" we were using, and that acknowledging this did not undermine the value of Anderson's work for what it is or for its place in the development of American modernism.

I got extremely shot down by a professor who seemed to believe we should approach every work assigned with holy reverence, as if all of it were some kind of Scripture. My assertion that Anderson's work may be a departure from the past but doesn't stack up against the authors who immediately followed him was proof that I "did not appreciate" Sherwood Anderson.

When in fact, I do appreciate Sherwood Anderson's work. Winesburg, Ohio is among my favorite realist/modernist works. All other things being equal, I'd rather read Anderson than Faulkner.

Feels nice to have the World Book Encyclopedia vindicate me. I'd email this to that professor, but I'm pretty sure said professor is now deceased.