Notes on John Steinbeck

Introduction

• Celebrated author and Nobel Prize winner (1962).
• Gives voice to working-class America.
• Writes about marginalized groups (hobos, tramps, Okies) and makes them relatable.
• Focuses on universal human conditions.

Early Life

• Born on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California.
• California's landscape and history heavily influenced his works.
• Enrolled in Stanford University in 1919 but dropped out.
• Scraped by for years while continuing to write.

Major Works

Tortilla Flat (1935)

• First critical success, unexpectedly sold 26,000 copies in a year.
• Story about a gang of "winos" living in a rundown house post-World War I.

Of Mice and Men (1937)

• Immediate bestseller; adapted into a play.
• Won New York Drama Critics Circle Award.
• Experimented with a new form—"play novelet."
• Themes: Realism of the Great Depression, friendship between George and Lennie as a source of hope.

The Grapes of Wrath (1939)

• Reported on migrant farm workers for the San Francisco Chronicle, leading to this work.
• Immediate bestseller, remained on bestseller list for over a year.
• Highlights the struggles of the Joad family and broader societal issues.
• Adapted into a film (1940) directed by John Ford; selected for preservation by the Library of Congress.

Legacy

• Died from a heart attack on December 20, 1968.
• Left behind a legacy of 27 books.
• Prolific decade: produced half a dozen major literary works in 10 years.