Is Winesburg, Ohio a novel?

This questoin came up in class and i really liked it. Obviously, its placed in the novel section at barnes and noble's but does it actually have the qualitites of a novel? Some people were saying that its not because none of the stories within it had anything to do with eachother. Sure, they involved the same characters and elements, but they didnt really relate. Personally, I would have to disagree. Winesburg, Ohio is a series of moments happening in life. Each one reflects a different time in life. Novels usually have a distinct begining, middle, and end, but even though this particular novel doesnt does not mean that everything that happens within the book doesnt have to do with one another. Moments in one persons life may not relate to one another but each moment brought that person where he/she is today. The stories that happen throughout this book may have came out much differently if the even that happened in the one before it came out differently. Also, the ending of Winesburg, Ohio might not have been the same if it wasnt for all the other moments that happened before it. Therefore, Winesburg, Ohio is infact a novel. Maybe not a conventional one, but it still is.