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John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath and Other Writings 1936–1941

john steinbeck elaine steinbeck robert demott

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The second volume in the Library of America’s authoritative edition of John Steinbeck features his acknowledged masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath. Written in an incredibly compressed five-month period, the novel had an electrifying impact upon publication in 1939, unleashing a political storm with its vision of America’s dispossessed struggling for survival. It continues to exert a powerful influence on American culture, and has inspired artists as diverse as John Ford, Woody Guthrie, and Bruce Springsteen. Tracing the journey of the Joad family from the dust bowl of Oklahoma to the migrant camps of California, Steinbeck creates an American epic, spacious, impassioned, and pulsating with the rhythms of living speech. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize and has since sold millions of copies worldwide.

This text of The Grapes of Wrath has been newly edited based on Steinbeck’s manuscript, typescript, and proofs. Many errors have been corrected, and words omitted or misconstrued by his typist have been restored. In addition, The Harvest Gypsies, his 1936 investigative report on migrant workers, which laid the groundwork for the novel, is included as an appendix.

The Long Valley (1938) displays Steinbeck’s brilliance as a writer of short stories, including such classics as “The Chrysanthemums,” “The White Quail,” “Flight,” and “The Red Pony.” Set in the Salinas Valley landscape that was Steinbeck’s enduring inspiration, the stories explore moments of fear, tenderness, isolation, and violence with poetic intensity.

The Log from the Sea of Cortez, an account of the 1940 marine biological expedition in which Steinbeck participated with his close friend Ed Ricketts, is a unique blend of science, philosophy, and adventure, as well as one of Steinbeck’s most revealing expositions of his core beliefs. First published in 1941 as part of the collaborative volume Sea of Cortez, Steinbeck’s narrative was reissued separately a decade later, augmented by the moving tribute “About Ed Ricketts.”

This volume contains a newly researched chronology, notes, and an essay on textual selection. It is the second of four volumes in The Library of America edition of John Steinbeck’s writings.

1067 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1,1996

This edition

Format
1067 pages, Hardcover
Published
September 1, 1996 by Library of America
ISBN
9781883011154
ASIN
1883011159
Language
English

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About the author

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john steinbeck

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John Ernst Steinbeck was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception". He has been called "a giant of American letters."
During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward F. Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945), the multi-generation epic East of Eden (1952), and the novellas The Red Pony (1933) and Of Mice and Men (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of the American literary canon. By the 75th anniversary of its publishing date, it had sold 14 million copies.
Most of Steinbeck's work is set in central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley and the California Coast Ranges region. His works frequently explored the themes of fate and injustice, especially as applied to downtrodden or everyman protagonists.

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Rating(3.8 / 5.0, 33 votes)
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33 reviews All reviews
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Lenko_
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Steinbeck was just entering his 'Golden Period' in 1936 and this is a magnificent collection of his greatest work including The Grapes of Wrath which one read lives in you memory like a visceral experience.
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nutmaster90
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Grapes of Wrath:-


It is not easy to read, and I found it easier to see the film and understood better - but therefore all the more I value this work, not because it is difficult but because I could grasp it through the film.

And the film truly was great, especially when it came to the dialogue of mother and son at the end - and Henry Fonda forever marked his place amongst the great with his portrayal and his delivery in the last speech.

It is an entirely worthy, great - in the original sense of the word - work, and for anyone from US it is a must read because it is your own history, usually not told around in the fairy tale account of your country you get officially.

If you are not from US it is still a great work relating a part of history of US, and entirely worthy of reading. Difficult, yes. Great, absolutely.

The book deals with the depression in US that was devastating there, the beginning of an era in Europe that ended with millions killed in war and a sizeable few millions helpless killed by their own government in gas chambers and other ways of murder, and so on.

In all this the poor and the not so poor that became poor in US were almost forgotten, since the nation holds on to the myth that anyone who is willing to work must do well in that country.

This book for one exposes such myths.
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RandallTeal
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I totally understand why the Grapes of Wrath is a classic. We can fully appreciate the historical story of “real” hardship without any personal experience. I started with the Grapes of Wrath, and then had to read the rest of this book, only then realizing it is over a 1000 pages, but keeping my interest as much as any book has. The “Log from the Sea of Cortez”, started out curious and interesting enough, however I found that story of sailing biologists collecting sea specimens was so repetitive and boring, I abandoned this story after about 100 of the 275 pages. Steinbeck’s life events was an interesting read in the Chronology. Looking forward to reading more of his books.
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berganda
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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The Log from the Sea of Cortez details a trip Steinbeck took to the Gulf of California. It's up and down but has some very good highs.

The Harvest Gypsies is basically a real Grapes of Wrath but I felt it should have been much longer.

The Long Valley covers most of the themes Steinbeck touched on throughout his career over its several stories.

The Grapes of Wrath is Steinbeck's crowning achievement and one of the greatest novels of all time.

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Arcanethink
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Grapes of Wrath:Wow!I just finished reading this and what an ending. Honestly the best ending I've ever read in any book. Steinbeck writes so clearly I can feel the cotton in the feilds and the pouring rain through the valley. I highly recommend this book for anyone, especially if you like adventure.

The Long Valley: Steinbeck's literary brilliance shines through in this collection of short stories. From ranching to racial inequality to the beauty of nature, Steinbeck never fails to entertain and captivate his readers.

Log from the Sea of Cortez: An amusing story, this was based on Steinbeck's actual voyage with a team including close friend, Marine Biologist, Ed Ricketts. My interest was held mostly throughout and I got in a good number of laughs as well.

The Harvest Gypsies: A combination of articles Steinbeck wrote as a journalist, this series depicts the grim and restless life of California migrant workers in the thirties. It provides a shocking picture of the evil that man is capable of doing upon his fellow man simply because of greed and indifference.
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Liuz3
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I really liked the Grapes of Wrath but I was bored with most of the other stories.
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Soraaaxii
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I only read The Grapes of Wrath from this book. It was a very good story, even though the beginning was slow and the end was really weird.
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me-yow
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Its an old adage that the book is always better than the movie, and that just might be true in this case. I am a big fan of the movie, which I have seen a couple of dozen times before picking up the book. It was after recently showing a segment to my environmental history course that I decided to read the book. What strikes me is how well the movie is adapted from the book. Yes, there are some differences. First, the language is much more salty. Lots of curses and few "f-bombs" from Tom Joad and others. Second, there is a lot more talk about sex in the book. Third, there are more characters. While this is true of most books when compared to the movies made from them, the Joads often met other families in the book that are not depicted in the movie. Finally, the movie ends at a scene before the book ends. Nevertheless, the movie is coherent, true to the general narrative of the book, and definitely captures the politics of the book. One of the best parts of the book for me, is how Steinbeck alternates from chapters about the history and social impact of the depression and Dust Bowl to one focused on the Joad story. I think this makes the book more valuable and gives it much more force.
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