John Steinbeck

Well, I have cracked America’s DaVinci Code, but don’t look for Tom Hanks, to portray me anytime soon. To begin with, I am nobody. I thought I would have been somebody by now, but I am not. I am still Tom Joad, and as much as America loves — The Grapes of Wrath — they always miss the message in the madness: I been thinking about us too, about our people living like pigs and good and rich land layin’ fallow. Or maybe one guy with a million acres and a hundred thousand farmers starvin. And I been wonderin’ if all our folks got together and yelled…

“Of Mice and Men” is one of Steinbeck’s novels capturing the era of the Great Depression, published in 1937. It is a short story that climaxes quickly, depicting the livelihoods of Lennie and George, two migrant workers in the ranches of California. Steinbeck is a master in characterization, depicting individual…

“We have made our mark on the world, but have we really done nothing that the trees and creeping plants, ice and erosion, cannot remove in a fairly short time?” John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez The shitshow has begun. Political malpractice as a daily tactic. Stunts…

Yesterday, I finished reading Zapata, John Steinbeck a book edited by Robert E. Morsberger who had edited the original publication of Steinbeck’s screenplay Viva Zapata! and was head of the editorial board of the Steinbeck Quarterly. The book includes notes and commentary by Morsberger, notes by Elia Kazan, the director…

It’s just another night in the windy city. You don’t complain as you sit in this bar and nurse your Jameson, two fingers, neat. Chloe the hound dog lies under your table. Strictly speaking she’s not really a support animal, but she’s been here longer than the barkeep. …

I’m reading all of John Steinbeck’s books in chronological order of release, in an attempt to better understand one of my favourite authors. We begin with his debut, Cup of Gold. An account of the life of Henry Morgan, Cup of Gold that seems out of place from the familiar…