John Steinbeck

Author profile

born

February 27, 1902 in Salinas Valley, California, The United States

died

December 20, 1968

gender

male

website

http://www.steinbeck.org/

genre

Literature & Fiction

influences

Ed Ricketts, Will Lang, Socrates, Emiliano Zapata, Lincoln Steffens, A...more

About this author

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John Steinbeck III was an American writer. He wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939 and the novella Of Mice and Men, published in 1937. In all, he wrote twenty-five books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and several collections of short stories.

In 1962 Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Steinbeck grew up in the Salinas Valley region of California, a culturally diverse place of rich migratory and immigrant history. This upbringing imparted a regionalistic flavor to his writing, giving many of his works a distinct sense of place.

Steinbeck moved briefly to New York City, but soon returned home to California to begin his career as a writ...moreJohn Steinbeck III was an American writer. He wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939 and the novella Of Mice and Men, published in 1937. In all, he wrote twenty-five books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and several collections of short stories.

In 1962 Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Steinbeck grew up in the Salinas Valley region of California, a culturally diverse place of rich migratory and immigrant history. This upbringing imparted a regionalistic flavor to his writing, giving many of his works a distinct sense of place.

Steinbeck moved briefly to New York City, but soon returned home to California to begin his career as a writer. Most of his earlier work dealt with subjects familiar to him from his formative years. An exception was his first novel Cup of Gold which concerns the pirate Henry Morgan, whose adventures had captured Steinbeck's imagination as a child.

In his subsequent novels, Steinbeck found a more authentic voice by drawing upon direct memories of his life in California. Later he used real historical conditions and events in the first half of 20th century America, which he had experienced first-hand as a reporter.

Steinbeck often populated his stories with struggling characters; his works examined the lives of the working class and migrant workers during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. His later body of work reflected his wide range of interests, including marine biology, politics, religion, history, and mythology.

One of his last published works was Travels with Charley, a travelogue of a road trip he took in 1960 to rediscover America. He died in 1968 in New York of a heart attack and his ashes are interred in Salinas.

Seventeen of his works, including The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Cannery Row (1945), The Pearl (1947), and East of Eden (1952), went on to become Hollywood films, and Steinbeck also achieved success as a Hollywood writer, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Story in 1944 for Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat.(less)

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Average rating: 3.77 · 907,075 ratings · 29,587 reviews · 156 distinct works

	Of Mice and Men 3.71 avg rating — 537,354 ratings — published 1937 — 164 editions	My rating:
	The Grapes of Wrath 3.81 avg rating — 135,482 ratings — published 1939 — 170 editions	My rating:
	East of Eden: 4.30 avg rating — 88,034 ratings — published 1952 — 96 editions	My rating:
	The Pearl 3.26 avg rating — 45,339 ratings — published 1945 — 112 editions	My rating:
	Cannery Row 3.92 avg rating — 27,213 ratings — published 1945 — 58 editions	My rating:
	Travels With Charley: In Search of America 3.98 avg rating — 14,814 ratings — published 1962 — 42 editions	My rating:
	Tortilla Flat 3.75 avg rating — 11,609 ratings — published 1935 — 68 editions	My rating:
	The Red Pony 3.25 avg rating — 11,676 ratings — published 1933 — 63 editions	My rating:
	The Winter of Our Discontent 3.90 avg rating — 9,142 ratings — published 1961 — 36 editions	My rating:
	The Moon is Down 3.77 avg rating — 3,961 ratings — published 1942 — 42 editions	My rating:

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Quotes by John Steinbeck

“I believe a strong woman may be stronger than a man, particularly if she happens to have love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is indestructible.”
― John Steinbeck, East of Eden:

825 people liked it

“Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”
― John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

tags: loneliness , people , scared , world

779 people liked it

“I wonder how many people I've looked at all my life and never seen.”
― John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent

741 people liked it

See all John Steinbeck's quotes »

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John Steinbeck

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