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In Dubious Battle

by John Steinbeck, Warren French (Annotations)

3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 · rating details · 4,113 ratings · 255 reviews

This 1936 novel—set in the California apple country—portrays a strike by migrant workers that metamorphoses from principled defiance into blind fanaticism.

Paperback, Penguin Classic, 304 pages

Published May 30th 2006 by Penguin Classics (first published 1936)

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Aug 07, 2012 Barry Taft rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Steinbeck's novel illustrates the struggles of apple pickers in central California in the 1930's to organize a strike after a devastating pay cut threatens their livelihoods. The events are seen through the eyes of an impressionable newcomer who has fallen under the tutelage of a savvy, older organizer who deftly manipulates the situation to suit his "Red" ideology. The crisp, almost Hemingway-esque dialogue of gritty characters evokes an early film noir style, but much of the events depicted co...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Neil rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have been a lifelong fan of author John Steinbeck, but it wasn’t until I went back to the university as a mature adult that I first read IN DUBIOUS BATTLE. Published in 1936, before THE GRAPES OF WRATH, it is not one of Steinbeck’s better known novels, but I believe it is definitely one of his strongest. As a piece of literature, IN DUBIOUS BATTLE is a multi-layered story of Jim Nolan, who joins “the party” in farm country, California. The party is not identified but assumed to be the American...more

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Jun 15, 2011 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is my first review on Goodreads. Back in PBT days (circa 2004), I used to write little snippet reviews for every book I read but since I started using GR last summer, I've been so impressed by the high caliber of Quinten's reviews that I've been too intimidated to write my own. And lazy. But I'm going to start anyway.

In Dubious Battle completes my run of all of the Steinbeck books at the Central Library, and certainly ends it on a high note. When I first added this book as "to-read," I was...more

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Jan 17, 2009 Brent rated it 5 of 5 stars

"In Dubious Battle" is a great book, one that is sure to make you angry and sad while reading it. Steinbeck does a great job of showing both sides of the labor battle, while making one side as good and the other as bad, but still showing both sides to be manipulative. The book follows the character of Jim along, as he joins the "party" and eventually accompanies Mac into apple picking country to organize a strike. The bulk of the book's philosophy is expunged in conversations between Jim, Mac, a...more

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Nov 17, 2011 Aine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. DESCRIPTION FROM BACK OF BOOK
"In the California Apple country, nine hundred migratory workers rise up "in dubious battle" against the landowners. The group takes on a life of its own - stronger than its individual members and more frightening. Led by the doomed Jim Nolan, the strike is founded on his tragic idealism on the "courage never to submit or yield.
"In Dubious Battle" cannot be dismissed as a "propaganda" novel - it is another version of the eternal human fight against injustice. It is...more

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Apr 20, 2010 Joyce Lagow rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature

John Steinbeck is one of my all-time favorite authors. He is to me the epitome of the finest American writing. His writing, particularly about the California valleys he loved so well, is lyrical, with a flowing rhythm that leads you gracefully from one sentence to another.[return][return]That� s why In Dubious Battle was such a shock. It was hard to believe, as I was reading, that it had been really written by Steinbeck; it seemed far more as if it was written by a Steinbeck wanna-be with zero t...more John Steinbeck is one of my all-time favorite authors. He is to me the epitome of the finest American writing. His writing, particularly about the California valleys he loved so well, is lyrical, with a flowing rhythm that leads you gracefully from one sentence to another.[return][return]That� s why In Dubious Battle was such a shock. It was hard to believe, as I was reading, that it had been really written by Steinbeck; it seemed far more as if it was written by a Steinbeck wanna-be with zero talent for imitation. The writing is choppy, the characters are barely sketched out, the dialogue seems phony.[return][return]Steinbeck wrote In Dubious Battle in 1934, after meeting and interviewing fugitive agricultural labor organizers who took part in the 1933 cotton workers� strike in the San Joaquin Valley. That strike was organized by the Cannery and Agricultural Workers Industrial Union, which was at that time led by members of the American Communist Party. The characters of Jim and Mac in the book are based at least in part on those interviews. [return][return]In Dubious Battle is often put forth as a sort of prequel to The Grapes of Wrath. Both books deal with the same main themes but that� s where the resemblance ends. In terms of writing, characterization and dialogue, there is no comparison; In Dubious Battle seems like the experimentation of a beginner rather than a book written by a writer who by this time had several excellent books published.[return][return]Clearly, Steinbeck had great sympathy for the plight of the migrant labor of the time, which at that time was not composed of Hispanics but poor whites. But it� s hard to resist the speculation that in this particular case, Steinbeck let his personal feelings and social agenda dominate the writing instead of informing and enriching it. That� s always risky, and in In Dubious Battle, the result was one of Steinbeck� s worst efforts. He would certainly redeem himself and, more than that, achieve immortality with the same themes in The Grapes of Wrath but five years would have to pass before the appearance of that masterpiece.[return][return]I think it� s worth reading In Dubious Battle to experience Steinbeck� s complete canon of works, but I think it� s a shock to the sensibility of any reader at all familiar with Steinbeck� s other, more famous works.(less)

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Jun 01, 2013 Sasha Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Similar in subject and style to The Grapes of Wrath, characterized by a conversation-driven sequence of short scenes over a short span of time. Muscular, brief plot, unfolding the story of a handful of men and the gritty mess of virulent idealism mixed with hand-to-mouth needfulness. Leaders and the men who follow in a time of gut-wrenching crisis. Curiously, Steinbeck again portrays human sexuality as a kind of flitting natural urge that comes and goes in a man, and seems best satisfied in occa...more

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Apr 23, 2013 Tiana Sandoval rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you enjoy fictional books with a realistic plot that still maintains its ability to entertain one along with immersing the reader into a story filled with drama and wonderful imagery, then In Dubious Battle is most certainly for you. Without giving too much information away, it’s about a Party (possibly representing the Communist Party) that's leading a strike against the presumably unjust Growers' Association. The novel might not be as well-known as some of Steinbeck's other works, nor is it...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Al rated it 4 of 5 stars

Today, nearly forty years after his death, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck remains one of America’s greatest writers and cultural figures. We have begun publishing his many works for the first time as blackspine Penguin Classics featuring eye-catching, newly commissioned art. This season we continue with the seven spectacular and influential books East of Eden, Cannery Row, In Dubious Battle, The Long Valley, The Moon Is Down, The Pastures of Heaven, and Tortilla Flat. Penguin Classics is pro

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Sep 19, 2012 Piperitapitta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autori-usa, letteratura-usa, premio-nobel, romanzo

Il Dottor John Steinbeck

Quello che lascia senza fiato è la potenza e l'attualità di questo romanzo che nonostante affondi le proprie radici in pieno New Deal potrebbe benissimo essere stato scritto in un'epoca molto più recente.
Dopo alcune letture che mi avevano lasciata più freddina, qui riconosco il vero Steinbeck, quello che ho iniziato ad amare con Furore e Vicolo Cannery; quello che riesce a tirar fuori dai suoi personaggi tutta l'umanità e tutta la rabbia che secoli di privazioni e soprusi...more Il Dottor John Steinbeck

Quello che lascia senza fiato è la potenza e l'attualità di questo romanzo che nonostante affondi le proprie radici in pieno New Deal potrebbe benissimo essere stato scritto in un'epoca molto più recente.
Dopo alcune letture che mi avevano lasciata più freddina, qui riconosco il vero Steinbeck, quello che ho iniziato ad amare con Furore e Vicolo Cannery; quello che riesce a tirar fuori dai suoi personaggi tutta l'umanità e tutta la rabbia che secoli di privazioni e soprusi hanno accumulato e covato sotto la cenere, come magma di un vulcano pronto ed esplodere.
A mio parere non il capolavoro di Steinbeck, come viene indicato da alcuni critici, ma sicuramente appena sotto Furore che alla tematica a tratti simile, unisce una costruzione narrativa ancora superiore.
La battaglia è comunque un romanzo che non può lasciare indifferenti, che costringe a ripensare a quante battaglie siano state sostenute affinché alcune classi sociali, gli agricoltori in questo caso, potessero far valere il proprio diritto "ad avere il pane" - non il guadagno quindi, ma la sopravvivenza - e a quante lotte in altre zone del mondo si è costretti a fare, oltre settant'anni dopo, per ottenere la stessa giustizia.
Se La battaglia è un romanzo comunista, se Steinbeck era comunista - di questo fu accusato ripetutamente arrivando persino alla censura di Furore in alcuni stati degli Stati Uniti d'America - allora anche io sono comunista.
Ma Steinbeck, ancora una volta, si pone al centro della battaglia, non limitando la propria intelligenza di osservatore a schierarsi dalla parte dei padroni piuttosto che da quella degli agricoltori, ma cercando di rappresentare, attraverso le diverse figure presenti, anche tutte le sfumature esistenti fra essi.
La più bella, quella che secondo me riassume in essa non solo tutte le contraddizioni umane, ma anche la curiosità, il desiderio di scoperta e la sete di conoscenza della nostra specie, è quella del Dottore, in cui non fatico a riconoscere la passione ed il desiderio dell'autore stesso, colui che mette a disposizione se stesso e le proprie competenze, colui che vuole trovarsi al centro della battaglia per studiare l'infezione e, forse, attraverso l'osservazione del dolore stesso, trovare la cura per annullarlo.(less)

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Nov 26, 2011 Toni rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: listened-to

The title, In Dubious Battle, is taken from the first part of “Paradise Lost,” John Milton’s epic poem about Satan’s rebellion against God. Milton shows how uncertain the success of Satan’s awesome powers are in a fight against God. The poem encompasses how futile even the magnificent forces of all the greatest fallen angels are when compared to God’s all-powerful dominion, strength and majesty. The title, then, is a powerful reference and an illuminating signal as it relates to the people and s...more

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Sep 16, 2011 jeremy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

published some seventy-five years ago, in dubious battle must surely be ranked amongst steinbeck's greatest and most accomplished works. set amidst the apple orchards of the fictional torgas valley in california, the novel focuses on the labor dispute between the apple pickers ("fruit tramps") and the orchards' owners. steinbeck casts as his protagonists two party members (unstated, though presumed to be communist party) whom travel to the valley to agitate and organize the workers into leading...more

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Jul 10, 2010 Annii Frazer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010books, john-steinbeck, classics

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Apr 19, 2010 Barner rated it 3 of 5 stars

I went to my book shelves the other evening and found this Steinbeck which I had not read. Though it reminds one of GRAPES of WRATH and even CANNERY ROW, it does not compare. The title, obviously from Paradise Lost "in dubious battle on the plains of heaven" does describe the novel for the battle (strikers and "management") does portray a dubious battle. Mac, the supposed "Red" is concerned with creating a successful strike ---or disaster if at all possible. In doing so, he lies, manipulates, an...more

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Jun 12, 2013 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-classics, curmudgeons-for-justice, searing-social-commentary

In Dubious Battle is the Anti-Ayn story--the opposite of Atlas Shrugged. This is a story of an apple picker's strike taking place in a California Valley, told from the perspective of two outside communist agitators who come along to facilitate the action.

*spoiler alert* The parallels between war and strike actions are evident from the start. Even the strategies employed are military--siege, barricade, propaganda and spying are all a part of the strikes. Mac, one of the main characters, makes it...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Justin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Written just before The Grapes of Wrath, In Dubious Battle comes very close to matching its better-known successor.

This short novel takes place in the midst of the Depression in California's apple fields. Two organizers – or agitators, depending on one's view – help convince a group of apple pickers to strike for better wages and conditions. Things don't go exactly how the two men, Mac and Jim, want and the strikers' struggle is filled with hardship and heartache. But it is also filled with cam...more

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Jan 19, 2009 sdw rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Steinbeck published this book in 1936, on the heels of the great labor strikes in California's fields. Jim is young and angry, and he is brought by Mac, an experienced communist party organizer, out to the orchards to help build a strike.

This is a study of men as individuals and groups. How does a mob act? Why does it act that way? What drives the organizers? We learn that on one hand they have something worth living for that gives them satisfaction denied the other characters. On the other han...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Anjali Khatri rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 15, 2011 Don Stanton rated it 2 of 5 stars

Timing is everything, or so it seems. I read this book long ago and I feel about it the same now as I did then, except then I didn't know how how express it. So Looking back I See JS as

Iconic American author Check
Nobel Prize winner Check
Failed as a labor Check
Quasi Recluse Check
Depression era writer Check
Proletariat Check
Socialist Check
Communist Possibly
outlook: Big Guy Wins
Little guys looses Check
Like USSR policies Check
Depressing as Hell Double Check
Alcoholic Check
Defeatist Check

My conclusi...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Aaron Arnold rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, politics, read-in-2012

As a straightforward novel about striking apple pickers, this is a good look at the mechanics of strikes and yet another good look from Steinbeck at the psychology of people placed in nearly impossible situations. The book follows Jim, the son of a famous Communist Party fighter, and his own journey from just another unemployed worker to Party organizer himself. He joins fellow Party men Mac and London in the fictional Torgas Valley and its fight against exploitative farm owners. Steinbeck uses...more As a straightforward novel about striking apple pickers, this is a good look at the mechanics of strikes and yet another good look from Steinbeck at the psychology of people placed in nearly impossible situations. The book follows Jim, the son of a famous Communist Party fighter, and his own journey from just another unemployed worker to Party organizer himself. He joins fellow Party men Mac and London in the fictional Torgas Valley and its fight against exploitative farm owners. Steinbeck uses Jim and Doc, the doctor, as the primary mouthpieces for his trademark vernacular philosophizing - Jim slowly changes from bystander to violent vanguard, while Doc is always the cool voice of reason, theorizing on the peculiar characteristics of the mass of men the Party is trying to build out of the unorganized mob of desperate strikers.

A big theme is the way that people get used for bigger things; not only Jim and the "his name is Robert Paulson"-type scene at the end, but throughout the book there are constant discussions of how bloodshed will turn the mob into a machine, an entity that will rampage over the callous and malignant growers. Eric Hoffer must have read this book several times before writing his own The True Believer on the nature of members of mass organizations, and in In Dubious Battle I also see echoes of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle in terms of how the organizers see the Communist Party as savior. What's interesting is that aside from glancing mentions of Hoover (who would have been out of office by the time book is set) there is basically no mention of the government. Steinbeck was probably trying to isolate the characters in the tiny valley setting for dramatic effect, but you could probably write an interesting paper on how the pro-labor liberalism of the New Deal with its Wagner Act helped defuse a lot of the Communist Party radicalism seen here.

I wouldn't say this book is as good as The Grapes of Wrath, its most nearly similar Steinbeck book, but I would recommend it to any fan of The Jungle. Steinbeck is incapable of writing a bad book, and while this may seem too political for fans of East of Eden, he does a great job of dramatizing the times, and the eternal conflict between individual, small, antlike people, and the large, collective, powerful anthills they can become.(less)

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Jul 17, 2012 Yves rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporain, usa

Encore une fois, j'ai lu un livre solide de Steinbeck. J'ai toujours été touché par les revendications du mouvement ouvrier. J'avais adoré Germinal de Zola justement à cause de ça. Ici, on voit les petites magouilles du parti communiste qui manipule les ouvriers agricoles dans le but de faire avancer le droit des travailleurs et de les solidariser. Malgré le but noble du parti, le vrai but est d'obtenir des nouvelles adhésions et faire sa révolution malgré des sacrifices humains. D'un autre côté...more

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Jul 06, 2011 Scott rated it 2 of 5 stars

The last few years I've been reading Steinbeck at the pace of about one book a year. I like him much better than some of the other titans of early twentieth century American literature such as Hemingway and Faulkner. I came across my hardback 1936 edition (is it a first?)of In Dubious Battle in an antique store. My friend Rob Howard had highly recommended it (Steinbeck is one of his two favourite authors).

The title comes from Milton, some lines from one of Satan's speeches in Paradise Lost in wh...more The last few years I've been reading Steinbeck at the pace of about one book a year. I like him much better than some of the other titans of early twentieth century American literature such as Hemingway and Faulkner. I came across my hardback 1936 edition (is it a first?)of In Dubious Battle in an antique store. My friend Rob Howard had highly recommended it (Steinbeck is one of his two favourite authors).

The title comes from Milton, some lines from one of Satan's speeches in Paradise Lost in which he describes some of the angels joining him in battle against God becuase they disliked his reign. What meaning to give this in interpreting the novel, I'm not completely sure.

It is the story of a young man who joins the Communist Party (though it is not named) after watching his father struggle and fight through his live as a workingman. The opening chapters of Jim leaving his boarding house and meeting up with guys from the party reminded me, in their style, of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man or Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood (not too books that I would consider similar). The comparison is in how the lone (and lonely) man interacts with his impoverished world (and I don't just mean economically impoverished).

The story picks up when Jim and Mac go off on Jim's first assignment to participate in fomenting and leading a fruit pickers strike in the Torgas Valley. The strike runs up against the well-organized establishment in the valley and what ensues is violent.

True to Steinbeck's other work, one encounters the plight of the working person and realizes how much of the American dream was once kept at some distance from many. Reading this novel over the Independence Day weekend, I was reminded that liberty and democracy are much more than the minimal freedom from government intrusion. They are maximally much more about having opportunities and possibilities to make decisions and choices. When the establishment powers limit ones opportunities, then one is not free in a fully meaninful sense.

The characters of Mac and Jim hold out for a Marxist-style revolution. I found their vision limited and wrongheaded, especially with the eyes of history to look back upon the Leninist-Stalinist state. Today I read a good essay on Rosa Luxemburg and her version of Marxism that was much more respectful of the individual. That is not the version of Mac, who uses people to his longterm ends. There is an important reason why we did not and cannot follow Mac's version of history, even though we may share his complaints against the status quo.

What the characters don't seem to envision is the dramatic rise of the middle class that would occur in the post-war years and how many of the complaints of the working class would be addressed by the entire population lifting itself up through economic development. Not that that solved everything, of course, as the programs of the New Deal and the social safety net were essential as well. In this way the novel stands as a strong warning to what we could return if the Tea Party has their way.(less)

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Jul 05, 2011 Suzy rated it 2 of 5 stars

It kills me to write that a Steinbeck novel was just "OK," but this one frankly just lacks a fair amount of what I like about Steinbeck's writing. The story is mostly dialogue, so there is little of Steinbeck's beautiful descriptive ability showcased. On top of that, Steinbeck, who likes to write in class/ethnic dialect, wrote this tale of a 1930's California field workers' strike in worker speak, which sounds to my modern ear a lot like old gangster movies. The story is, if nothing else, a pret...more

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May 03, 2009 Marvin rated it 5 of 5 stars

There is not a Steinbeck novel I don't like, but In Dubious Battle has stayed with me the longest. This novel is also the one that Steinbeck fans often "forget" about. Its tale of the struggles between a party organizer and the agricultural "system" doesn't fit well with reader's depiction of good and bad sides. While Steinbeck identifies with the worker and the union organizers, he also recognizes the fact that each side manipulates and sacrifices often in a cynical way. Much of the novel relat...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Mollyeswaidan rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It's a great book. That's for sure. I was lying in my sleeping bag rehearsing for this review, and the most crucial point was that Steinbeck's writing in this novel is tight. He wastes no time.
I loved this book, although, the first time i read it, i didn't even really like it; I thought it was boring and lame. I only remembered one or two scenes from the book, and they were all about Jim. I hardly even remembered Mac as a character, now i realize that mac talks much more than Jim in the book. ab...more It's a great book. That's for sure. I was lying in my sleeping bag rehearsing for this review, and the most crucial point was that Steinbeck's writing in this novel is tight. He wastes no time.
I loved this book, although, the first time i read it, i didn't even really like it; I thought it was boring and lame. I only remembered one or two scenes from the book, and they were all about Jim. I hardly even remembered Mac as a character, now i realize that mac talks much more than Jim in the book. about "the party" and jim just soaks it all up doesn't he? see, i'm thinking that is part of Steinbeck's point, part of his point is that Jim learns by moving forward, latched on to Mac.
So i didn't really like the book at all the first time. I thought it was boring. It felt good to get that out!

Set in the strike camp of some apple-picking day laborers most of the time, the story evolves quickly because the men are constantly going out in old Ford's to: beat up strikers, .....actually, the book begins in jim's house. but i wanted to mention the first time he sees the day laborers, which is when he starts working with them. The ladder he climbs up eventually is metaphor for ...well whats a ladder for? climbing up but it doesnt work when its broken, so its kind of like, hate to say it this way, "the system". im of the opinion that the system better break down so we can all get off. anyway, Jim starts some trouble up there in the trees with an old guy named Dan. For Dan's sake, i must add that he is a "top-faller", whatever tht means...Their camp is dirty, wet, and, most-importantly, they keep very close quarters. He writes so well, that it is easy to see the main character, Jim (or is Mac the main character?) digging his head into an open tent as an oil lamp is lit and men in overalls sit on wooden crates rolling cigarettes. It's that the characters...are so real. For example, Al, of Al's lunch truck, he gets beat by the vigilantes and sent to stay in bed all day on his daddy's land (where the strikers are set-up), and Mac and Jim, of course, they go to visit him, because Mac is always moving around, always busy. You can feel the nightliness when they visit. you just know al's in that house, probably in some iron frame bed with a floral blanket....see? it's so easy to imagine.
i read this book because i thought it would make me look good. that was a long time ago and i realize now that im questioning whether i really do like this book. have you read east of eden? see, that's more lighthearted. I didn't finish that one yet. so the question is, do i really like this book? yes.
So it takes place in the ... well, i studied history, so im stringing together the times as i take a swig of this here alfalfa juice that bonnie made from wild-crafting alfalfa on our (its not really our) land...and im coming up with the 1940's. could be earlier, but probably is actually later? its a russia thing. they get called reds in the book, so it could be as late as the 80's, well i was originally thinking 70s, ANYWAY.
its important because there is such an animosity towards the workers/strikers, especially the "organizers". They don't really deserve it. The towns people stand looking at them from shop and house windows, and they even get shot at by vigilantes, which is how they lose ...........
hey! if youre a highschool kid and youre just using this analysis as your own, at least let me know.
........Joy, this big fellow who to be honest makes me hurt just to think about it.
my final words are that this book has a beautiful sea foam green color
yes.
its not quite done but its done.(less)

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Sep 25, 2012 Jessie added it

I had heard accusations of misogyny against Steinbeck but hadn't remembered being particularly offended by the Grapes of Wrath a decade ago, so I went into this book thinking the word is thrown around too much. I was appalled by what I found. There is exactly one female character who speaks more than a few lines in this novel, and apparently she was written in simply so Steinbeck can express his extreme contempt for such a stupid sex. Meanwhile he throws in gratuitously offensive metaphors such...more

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Aug 24, 2011 Chris Blocker rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Considered by some to be among Steinbeck's best, In Dubious Battle is a precursor to The Grapes of Wrath. Several scenes from Steinbeck's Pulitzer winner seem to be foretold and expanded upon in In Dubious Battle. It is the story of members of the Communist Party, organizing a strike of fruit pickers in California. If you've read TGoW you'll quickly recognize many parallels—settings, characters that are virtually identical.

In Dubious Battle wasn't The Grapes of Wrath though. It wasn't even Stein...more

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Mar 06, 2011 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-mainstream

Steinbeck, John. IN DUBIOUS BATTLE. (1936). ****. Written during the midst of the Great Depression, this Steinbeck novel focuses on the political and sociological aspects of a fruit pickers strike. In that time of ideological and financial turmoil, men turned away from the old gods and towards new ones who promised the chance of salvation through the use of unity and brotherhood. This novel approaches the various aspects of labor and management as though we are watching a chess game. It is prett...more

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Sep 23, 2010 Allan Hough rated it 5 of 5 stars

Previously my review was all, "I'm like 40 pages in, and I keep having to stop to take notes on cool things that happen or that people say. Sometimes I have to stop five times in one paragraph."

Yep, that continued the whole way through. Loved it! How about when the top-feller was talking about his poached eggs!?

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Dec 07, 2010 Christopher Sutch rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a terrific novel about strike organizers among migrant farm workers during the Depression. Steinbeck doesn't shy away from depicting the unsavory things the strikers do in pursuit of a living wage, but he clearly shows that this is a war with all the advantage going to capital and almost none to the proletariat. He also explores the idea that men working together in a group cause form a sort of being with its own interests and often surprising actions. He shows this creature in operation...more

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About John Steinbeck

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...more 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 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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“Out of all this struggle a good thing is going to grow. That makes it worthwhile.” — 8 people liked it

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In Dubious Battle

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