John Steinbeck Summary

     John Steinbeck, born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California, is known as a “journalist, dramatis, short story writer, nonfiction writer, scripter, and poet” (John 1). Steinbeck is the “son of John Ernst, a county treasurer, and Olive Steinbeck, a school teacher” (Ernst 1). After attending Stanford University for five years and not acquiring a degree (Steinbeck 1), Steinbeck took various jobs as a hod-carrier, fruit-picker, laboratory assistant, surveyor, apprentice painter, caretaker, and laborer (Ernst 1). When Steinbeck was around 40 years old, Steinbeck found work at the New York Herald Tribune in 1943. About 20 years later, Steinbeck wrote for the Vietnam Newsday in 1966 through 1967. Later, Steinbeck was a special writer for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II (Ernst 1).

     John Steinbeck wrote many literary works but is “best known for his Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece Grapes of Wrath” (John 1), published in 1939. Other writing by Steinbeck include, “Cup of Gold: A Life of Henry Morgan, Buccaneer, With Occasional References to History (Novel) 1929, To a God Unknown (Novel) 1933, Of Mice and Men (Novel) 1937, and Travels with Charley: In Search of America (Notification) 1962” (Steinbeck 1). When Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature “the awards committee cited Steinbeck's "sympathetic humor and sociological perception" and his "instinct for what is genuinely American, be it good or bad" (John 1). This may have due to the fact that “Steinbeck studied biology when he went to Stanford University, giving Steinbeck a “Biological” view of humanity. He insisted that such evolutionary concepts as adaptation and natural selection apply to human society and that more profound observations could be gleaned from examining people in groups than as individuals” (John 1). This “biological” outlook on society could have contributed to Steinbeck’s famous and unique writing style.