John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, and it was his work related to California for which he is best known. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1940, and he later received the Nobel Prize in Literature. Perhaps his best known work is "Grapes of Wrath," which depicts the tragedies of an American family during the Great Depression. Read more about John Steinbeck's life and works.
1. Looking for Steinbeck's Ghost
by Jackson J. Benson. University of Nevada Press. From the publisher: "Looking for Steinbeck's Ghost is Benson's engaging account of his experiences over the fifteen years he devoted to writing that biography... We follow Benson as he struggles to master the skills of the biographer to find out just who John Steinbeck was."
2. John Steinbeck as Propagandist : The Moon Is Down Goes to War
by Donald V. Coers. University of Alabama Press. Donald Coers draws from letters, interviews and other materials to discuss the impact of Steinbeck's propaganda during World War II.3. John Steinbeck, Writer: A Biography
by Jackson J. Benson. Penguin. From the publisher: "Drawing on Steinbeck's papers and photographs, and scores of interviews, Benson explores the influences that contributed to Steinbeck's archetypal sense of American culture and his controversial concerns. An in-depth study of the shy, private individual behind many American classics."4. John Steinbeck: A Biography
by Jay Parini. Henry Holt & Company. From the publisher: "Jay Parini explores Steinbeck's love-hate relationship with Hollywood and Broadway, his career as a war correspondent, his difficult first and second marriages, and his often tempestuous associations with numerous celebrities, among them Joseph Campbell, Charlie Chaplin, Lyndon Johnson, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner."5. John Steinbeck: The War Years, 1939-1945
by Roy Simmonds. Bucknell University Press. From the publisher: "While today Steinbeck's books continue to enjoy immense popularity with the reading public, there is a considerable body of critical opinion that still holds fast to the view that Steinbeck declined as a writer after The Grapes of Wrath. Indeed, Harold Bloom has asserted that nothing Steinbeck wrote after 1939 bears rereading."6. Steinbeck: A Life in Letters
by John Steinbeck, Robert Wallsten (Editor), Elaine A. Steinbeck (Editor). Viking Penguin. From the publisher: "For John Steinbeck, who hated the telephone, letter-writing was a preparation for work and a natural way for him to communicate his thoughts on people he liked and hated; on marriage, women, and children; on the condition of the world; and on his progress in learning his craft."7. America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction
by John Steinbeck, Susan Shillinglaw, Jac Benson. Viking Penguin. From the publisher: "February 27, 2002, marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of this great American novelist. To mark the occasion, Viking repackaged six of his fiction works and published this reconstructed book of his selected nonfiction."8. John Steinbeck: America's Author
by Donne E. Florence. Enslow Publishers. From the publisher: "A biography of the California writer, discussing his childhood, hardships, friendships, travels, works, and awards, including the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes."9. Steinbeck Remembered: Interviews with Friends and Acquaintances
by Audry Lynch. Daniel, John & Company. From the publisher: "A great American author is remembered by his neighbors, pals, and cronies. These twenty interviews are reminiscences of Steinbeck as a boy in Salinas, a young man in Cannery Row, and an established author in Los Gatos, California. They offer a rare look at a private man."