John Steinbeck “I learned long ago that you cannot tell how you will end by how you stat”
EARLY LIFE ● Steinbeck was born in Salinas California on February 27th He spent most of his life in Monterey County, the setting for some of his fiction. ● Steinbeck decided to be a writer at 14. He enrolled at Stanford University majoring in English in ● Steinbeck drifted in and out of school until he dropped out in 1925 without a degree. ● Steinbeck briefly moved to New York seeking a career in writing, however he was unsuccessful and moved back to California.
CAREER ● Steinbeck's first novel was Cup of Gold, published in He then wrote Pastures of Heaven in 1932 followed by To a God Unknown in ● He was unsuccessful until Tortilla flat in 1935, which won him the California Commonwealth Club's Gold Medal. ● Steinbeck wrote various novels but eventually achieved great success with Of Mice and Men in It was produced on broadway and made into a movie.
Grapes of Wrath ● The grapes of wrath depicts life during the Great Depression and in the dust bowl. ● During the 1930s when drought and the Great Depression hit the square mile space including Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico, it caused agricultural devastation. ● Years of plowing and planting for wheat caused dry soil resulting in dust blowing into dense clouds. ● This was referred to as the Dust Bowl. ● Many people identified with his novel because of the honesty and the public attention it brought to the plight of farmers. ● This book sold 10,000 copies per week at its peak and earned a Pulitzer prize in ● The American Booksellers Association named it their favorite fiction book of 1939.
Controversies ● Growers and their partners in politics stigmatized Steinbeck and called him a liar and worse, threatened him with physical harm. ● The Grapes of Wrath was banned and burned in many farm countries due to politicians and law enforcements animosity towards the book. ● A wealthy grower in charge of a book burning in Bakersfield said “The Communist Party wrote the outline, and Steinbeck filled in the rest of the crap.” ● A congressman called it “the most damnable book that was ever permitted to be written.” ● The books challengers were afraid the book would gather support for the unionization of farmers. This would allow them to better their working conditions and make a reasonable pay. ● Farmers at that time could make as little as 1 dollar for a 10 hour day.
Steinbeck's Life&Legacy ● John Steinbeck worked as a war correspondent in world war II in 1943, and in 1944 left after being wounded. ● Steinbeck and a photographer Robert Capa were the first two Americans in the USSR after the Communist Revolution. ● Steinbeck had several books made into films including The Pearl, The Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men. ● Steinbeck wrote 27 books total. ● In 1962 Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. ● Steinbeck is remembered as one of the best and most widely read American authors of the 20th century. ● The Steinbeck center, a library and research center, opened in 1998, it was a place to store and display Steinbeck memorabilia. It gets about visits each year. ● John Steinbeck died of heart disease December 20th 1968 at his home in New York.
“To finnish is sadness to a writer- a little death. He puts the last words down and it is done. But it isn't really done. The story goes on and leaves the writer behind, for no story is ever done.” - John Steinbeck