“Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it, and it has not changed except...

“Literature is as old as speech. It grew

out of human need for it, and it has not

changed except to become more

needed.”

John Steinbeck,Nobel Prize Acceptance

Speech, 1962

John Steinbeck1902 - 1968

Early Life

•Born in Salinas, California, 1902

•Parents were John Steinbeck, Sr. and Olive Steinbeck

•Mother, a former schoolteacher, fostered Steinbeck’s love of reading

•Worked on California ranches during summers; impressions of California people and land

•Attended Stanford University 1919-1925

•Studied English, then independent study

•Did not earn degree

Career

•Left Stanford for New York to write

•Unsuccessful; returned to CA after a few years

•Held odd jobs: –journalist–laborer on construction of Madison Square Garden

–fruit picker–caretaker of Lake Tahoe estate

Writings

•First three novels were unsuccessful:–Cup of Gold, 1929–Pastures of Heaven, 1932–To a God Unknown, 1933

•Tortilla Flat, 1935–first success–focuses on unemployed drifters of Monterey, CA

•In Dubious Battle, 1936–deals with strikes of CA migratory workers

–drew critics’ anger

•Of Mice and Men, 1937

•The Grapes of Wrath, 1939–Pulitzer Prize winner–story of Oklahoma tenant farmers who move to California, become migrant workers

Other works:•The Red Pony•The Pearl•Cannery Row•East of Eden•The Winter of Our Discontent

•Nobel Prize for Literature, 1962–highest honor a writer can earn

•Steinbeck died in New York City, 1968