John Steinbeck

John Ernst Steinbeck III (February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was one of the most famous American writers of the 20th century. A winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962, he is most well-known for his novella Of Mice and Men (1937) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939), both of which examine the lives of the working class during the Great Depression.

Works

East of Eden

East of Eden is Steinbeck's most ambitious work, in which he turns his attention from social injustice to human psychology, in a Salinas Valley saga loosely patterned on the Garden of Eden story. The book was written and published in 1952. The main characters, Samuel and Liza Hamilton, are immigrants from Ireland, who raised there nine children on a rough unfertile hillside.

Related Topics:
Psychology - Garden of Eden - 1952 - Ireland

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The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath was written in 1939 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1940. The book is set in the Great Depression and describes a family of sharecroppers, the Joads, who were driven from their land due to the dust storms of the Dust Bowl. The title is a reference to the Battle Hymn of the Republic. The book was made into a movie into a film in 1940 starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford.

Related Topics:
Pulitzer Prize - Great Depression - Dust Bowl - Battle Hymn of the Republic - 1940 - Henry Fonda - John Ford

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Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men is a tragedy that was written in the form of a novella in 1937. The story is about two migrant farm workers trying to work up enough money to buy their own farm.

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The Pearl

The Pearl is another novella tells the story about a poor diver named Kino who finds the largest pearl anyone has ever seen. He wishes to use the money to pay for a doctor to treat his son's scorpion sting. His dream for a better life for his family leads to greed, obsession and ultimately, inevitable tragedy.

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Full bibliography

• ' 1929
• The Pastures of Heaven 1932
• The Red Pony 1933
• To a God Unknown 1933
• Tortilla Flat 1935
• In Dubious Battle 1936 The title is a reference to John Milton's "Paradise Lost."
• '
• Of Mice and Men 1937 The title is a reference to the Robert Burns poem "To a Mouse."
• The Long Valley 1938
• The Grapes of Wrath 1939 The title is a reference to the American Civil War song "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
• Forgotten Village 1941
• ' 1941 with Edward F. Ricketts.
• The Moon Is Down 1942 The title is a reference to William Shakespeare's play "Macbeth"
• ' 1942
• Cannery Row 1945
• The Pearl 1947
• The Wayward Bus 1947
• A Russian Journal 1948 with Robert Capa as photographer
• ' 1950
• Log from the Sea of Cortez 1951
• East of Eden 1952
• Sweet Thursday 1954
• The Short Reign of Pippin IV 1957
• Once There Was A War 1958
• The Winter of Our Discontent 1961 The title is a reference to the William Shakespeare play "Richard the Third".
• ' 1962 (a semi-documentary work about his late-life car trip, with his poodle Charley, around the United States.)
• America and Americans 1966
• ' 1969
• Viva Zapata! the Original Screenplay 1975
• The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights 1976
• ' 1989

Film credits

• 1939 – Of Mice and Men – directed by Lewis Milestone, featuring Burgess Meredith, Lon Chaney, Jr., and Betty Field
• 1940 – The Grapes of Wrath – directed by John Ford, featuring Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell and John Carradine
• 1941 – The Forgotten Village – directed by Herbert Kline, narrated by Burgess Meredith
• 1942 – Tortilla Flat – directed by Victor Fleming, featuring Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr and John Garfield
• 1943 – The Moon is Down – directed by Irving Pichel, featuring Lee J. Cobb and Sir Cedric Hardwicke
• 1944 – Lifeboat – directed by Alfred Hitchcock, featuring Tallulah Bankhead, Hume Cronyn, and John Hodiak
• 1944 – A Medal for Benny – directed by Irving Pichel, featuring Dorothy Lamour and Arturo de Cordova
• 1947 – La Perla (The Pearl, Mexico) – directed by Emilio Fernández, featuring Pedro Armendáriz and María Elena Marqués
• 1949 – The Red Pony – directed by Lewis Milestone, featuring Myrna Loy, Robert Mitchum, and Louis Calhern
• 1952 – Viva Zapata! – directed by Elia Kazan, featuring Marlon Brando, Anthony Quinn and Jean Peters
• 1955 – East of Eden – directed by Elia Kazan, featuring James Dean, Julie Harris, Jo Van Fleet, and Raymond Massey
• 1956 – The Wayward Bus – directed by Victor Vicas, featuring Rick Jason, Jayne Mansfield, and Joan Collins
• 1961 – Flight – featuring Efrain Ramírez and Arnelia Cortez
• 1962 – Ikimize bir dünya (Of Mice and Men, Turkey)
• 1972 – Topoli (Of Mice and Men, Iran)
• 1982 – Cannery Row – directed by David S. Ward, featuring Nick Nolte and Debra Winger