Anderson, whose prose style, derived from everyday speech, influenced American short story writing between World Wars I and II. He directed the American short story away from the neatly plotted tales of O. Henry and his imitators. The stories in The Triumph of the Egg are characterized by a casual development, complexity of motivation, and an interest in psychological process. Anderson also made his name as a leading naturalistic writer with his masterwork, Winesburg, Ohio, a picture of life in a typical small Midwestern town, as seen through the eyes of its inhabitants. Contents: The Dumb Man; I Want to Know Why; Seeds; The Other Woman; The Egg; Unlighted Lamps; Senility; The Man in the Brown Coat; Brothers; The Door of the Trap; The New Englander; War; Motherhood; Out of Nowhere into Nothing; and The Man with the Trumpet.