The Grapes of Wrath 1BIOGRAM The Man Born in Salinas, California, February 27, 1902, John Steinbeck was the son of the longtime county treasurer and his schoolteacher wife. Much of Steinbeck’s work was rooted in his native state, but his interests grew to encompass all mankind. Steinbeck studied at Stanford University, specializing in science, especially marine biology, but did not graduate. Later he worked as a New York reporter but was fired for inserting his own opinions into his stories. He returned West and held various jobs, from caretaker to chemist, and even fruit picker. For a time he lived off the sea, fishing from his own launch on Monterrey Bay. His first novel,Cup of Gold, attracted little notice. The next two were also financial failures. Not untilTortilla Flatdid Steinbeck win both critical and popular success. This triumph led him to experiment with novelettes, plays, and short stories. Then in 1939, Steinbeck published The Grapes of Wrath. The book proved to be an explosive bestseller, a controversial expose, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece. Amid the furor caused by the novel, Steinbeck went off with a biologist friend on an expedition to the Gulf of California. When he returned, he had material for a travel journal with observations of marine animals in the area. The journal was published asThe Sea of Cortez. In the Depression, the labor caused obsessed Steinbeck. As World War II began, his compassion found new focus. Both Bombs AwayandThe Moon is Down demonstrate his concern with the political threat to human dignity. Steinbeck was a prolific writer and his works comprise an overview of twentieth century American life. Still, his final book, Travels with Charley, based on a cross- country trek with his poodle, refuses to ratify any stereotype of contemporary society. Moreover, his works—from the fantasy about medieval France,The Short Reign of Pippin IV,to the heroic rebellion in the film scriptViva Zapata!—give an indication of his widely varied interests. Steinbeck was married three times and had two sons by his second wife. He died December 20, 1968, one of the most honored writers of his time. In awarding him the 1962 Nobel Prize for literature (he was not a popular choice among critics), the Swedish Academy praised his impartial instinct for truth in a particularly American vein. BesidesThe Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck publishedCup of Gold(1929), The Pastures of Heaven(1932),To a God Unknown(1933),Tortilla Flat(1935),In a Dubious Battle(1936),Of Mice and Men (1937),The Long Valley(1938),The Forgotten Village(1941),The Sea of Cortez (with E. F. Rickett) (1941),The Moon is Down(1942),Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team(1942),Cannery Row(1945), The Pearl(1947),The Wayward Bus(1946), East of Eden(1952),Sweet Thursday(1954), The Short Reign of Pippin IV(1957),The Winter of Our Discontent(1961), andTravel with Charley(1962).
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