In the following excerpt, Lowell provides an analysis of Spoon River and of Masters's career as a Midwestern poet.

In the following essay, Masters explains autobiographical and other sources of Spoon River.

In the following excerpt, Putzel examines Masters's friendship with William Marion Reedy, founder of the St. Louis weekly the Mirror, and Reedy's involvement with the publication of Spoon River.

In the following essay, Narveson provides an overview of major themes in Spoon River.

In the following essay, Burgess examines politics in small-town America as a central theme in Spoon River.

In the following essay, Hollander presents an overview of the background and major themes of Spoon River, offering praise for the 1992 annotated edition of the collection.

In the following essay, Schroth examines Masters's interpretation of nineteenth-century womanhood in Spoon River, finding that the female characters fall into three distinct categories.

In the following essay, Noe analyzes Spoon River in terms of the Johari theory of human communication.

In the following excerpt, Untermeyer comments on Spoon River, suggesting that the poems can be divided into three groups.

In the following excerpt, Swenson provides a history of the writing and publication of Spoon River.

In the following excerpt, Barnstone examines the misanthropy inherent in Masters's portrait of small-town America.

In the following essay, Chandran argues that Spoon River can be interpreted as a repudiation of the small-town myth.

In the following essay, Masters and Yust discuss Masters's poetry.

In the following excerpt, Hyman asserts that Masters was “not a great writer, nor even a good one,” but he maintains that in Spoon River Masters “confronted the spiritual poverty of his America.”

In the following essay, which was originally read as an introduction to his reading of a selection from Spoon River on the BBC, Thomas notes his interest in American literature and discusses the influence of Spoon River on his own Under Milk Wood.

In the following excerpt, Cassity praises the 1992 edition of Spoon River.

In the following review, Dell finds reasons to respect and admire Spoon River, despite his assertion that Masters's cynical viewpoint limits the philosophical scope of the work.