In 1940, Steinbeck travels from the Bay Area of California to Cabo San Lucas on the Baja, up to the northern part of the Sea of Cortez and then back to California. He’s on a fishing vessel with a crew and a friend, Ed Ricketts, collecting marine specimens. Steinbeck weaves his observations about life into his time on the vessel and marine collection activities. There is more of this in this long book than commentary about the Sea of Cortez and his interactions with the locals.

Steinbeck’s profile of Ricketts ("About Ed Ricketts," Penguin Edition, 1976) is almost a separate book and is wordy. But there are some gems. For example, Steinbeck’s observations of Ricketts “when the strong winds of love shook him” was as good as they come when describing the role of a sexual archetype in which inner need creates ideal object: “The object of his affection herself contributed very little to his picture of her. She was only the physical frame on which he draped a woman. She was like those large faceless dolls on which clothes are made. He built his own woman on this form, created her from the ground up, invented her appearance and built her mind, furnished her with talents and sensitiveness which were not only astonishing but downright untrue.”

I dont know why, but this book captivates me. Maybe because I long to be on a vessel wandering the coast....in the past, right before the huge explosion that has so populated and devastated the western seaboard. Seeing Monteray before the big hotels went up must of been a real hoot too...Especially after reafding Cannery Row..Steinbeck just nails it.

"The Log from the Sea of Cortez" is a hybrid travelogue and philosophy book. In it, John Steinbeck and his co-author, E. F. Ricketts expound their beliefs regarding man's relations with nature and himself, ecology, and a number of other things, while exploring the Gulf of California.

The original version of the book was published in 1941, but the one most people read nowadays is the edition made available ten years later. This version is accompanied by an introduction of short novel length, about Steinbeck's co-author. Ed Ricketts was the inspiration for Steinbeck's character Doc in "Tortilla Flat" and "Cannery Row," and in this seventy-page summary of his life, one can see where much of the real Ed was represented by the Doc character.

Ed Ricketts was a biologist, and the purpose of he and Steinbeck's exploration of the Gulf of California was to collect animal and flora samples, hopefully some never seen before. They stop at various ports in California and Mexico, make friends with locals, identify species, and pontificate on the human race's place in nature.

There are some intriguing ideas presented, in regards to mutations, in comparisons between natural animal and plant mutations and humans' "outer mutations," our progress and developments that, Steinbeck and Ricketts, suggest could potentially lead to extinction. One can also find a lot to consider in the chapter dealing with teleology and non-teleological philosophies.

In comparison to Steinbeck's fiction, I miss the dialogue, but otherwise, this is wonderfully written, and I'd definitely make sure to read "About Ed Ricketts" before the book proper.

I'm beginning to think that Steinbeck's nonfiction is his more enjoyable to me (much in the same way that Goya's sketches feel more authentic than his highly-regarded paintings). He has a way of going back and forth between descriptions of the natural world and the corresponding lessons for mankind--while alluding to a common substance in between.

I was especially taken with the last section found in the appendix that honored the life and death of Steinbeck's great friend Ed Ricketts. What a wonderful tribute to a person who meant so much to so many in that part of the country. The entire book was certainly an enjoyable and satisfying read. It was good to hear this voice again.

As with most of Steinbeck, this book made me laugh, but it also made me think of the beauty of our world. A great companion book as I went on my own journey sailing the Sea of Cortez.

This book met two goals I didn't expect: a Steinbeck book I hadn't read, and a Steinbeck book I didn't like.

"It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again."
- John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez



This book was originally the idea of Steinbeck and his marine biologist/muse Ed Ricketts. They traveled from Monterey, CA down to Baja and collected flora and fauna throughout the Sea of Cortez (see Gulf of California). This is right before WWII started for the US and about 1.5 years before Japan pulled us into it, but the impending war is like a giant submerged whale that follows the Western Flyer down to Mexico and back.

It is told mostly in a first person, plural, supposedly the joint thoughts of Steinbeck and Ricketts, but mostly a narrative constructed by Steinbeck after reviewing his log/diary from the trip. The original book, Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research included the research and accounting of Ed Ricketts of all the items they collected. After Ed Ricketts died, his name was dropped as was the species catalogue. Steinbeck added a Eulogy for his dead friend, but the estate keep Rickett's name from the authorship.

I read this book as I drank Pain Killers and Margaritas in Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Mexico while recovering for a week after breaking a femur in May. It seemed an appropriate time to carefully place a toe back in the warm pool of Steinbeck's writing.

"Life has one final end, to be alive; and all the tricks and mechanisms, all the success and all the failures, are aimed at that end."

Ugh, having a hard time rating this. Was just reading some of the 2-star reviews. Someone said, "a well-written book on a terribly boring subject". There were paragraphs in there that warranted 5 stars. But there were also moments where if it wasn't Steinbeck I would have thrown 1 star at it!

Let's put this in a nutshell - or maybe I should say "seashell" - ha ha. In all fairness, the forward in this 1995 addition says that the book really was a combination of ideas and daily records from both Steinbeck and his good companion on this trip, marine biologist Ed Ricketts. So maybe some of the dry parts were Ricketts' doing? In any case, it was a log, and a log can be boring. I don't think I could handle another mention of the daily catch of anemones, sponges, crabs, tunicates, and urchins. However, I loved the descriptions of the small crew: Tiny, Tex, Sparky, & Capt. Tony. I also loved the geography details of the Gulf of California and little bays and coves along the Mexican coast. I was fascinated to learn more about Steinbeck's own worldview when he discussed some of their deeper philosophical moments aboard the boat, but some of the notions were way "out there" and may have been influenced by beverage. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing! But makes for rambling and incoherence at times.

Steinbeck's friend died in a car accident a few years after their expedition. Afterwards, Steinbeck wrote a beautiful piece about him which is included in the appendix of the book. The book is almost worth the read just for those few pages. I read some woman's review that she found Steinbeck's honest portrayal of his friend, "appalling" for its openness. How wrong she is - we should all be so lucky to have a friend like Steinbeck who not only knew every nuance about his friend, but was able to capture him in such moving and sincere prose.

This book is full of science about aquatic life. It is filled with information that only sailors might understand, and it is more of a journal than a book. It doesn't feel polished. And yet it is wonderful! And I think it is wonderful because it is told with so much love and respect. For the reader it feels like a journey that John is thrilled to be on and equally happy to share. It feels a bit like a love letter to his friend Ed Ricketts. Cannery Row just moved higher up my TBR list!

I have become a huge fan of John Steinbeck over the past few weeks and each book I read solidifies that more for me. I am a fan of the writer and of the man. His books make me feel like I know him -- and I like the man I know. I wish I could have known the man in the real world. He tells the story of Americana with love and respect but never shies away from the hardships.

The Log from the Sea of Cortez is a strong, solid 4.5 stars.

Good travelogue, but... worms. So many worms. These worms bite, or sting, or otherwise adversely impact a person. Those worms maybe don't, but you still don't really want to be involved with them. You think it's going to be a story of hanging out on the ocean and having a good time, maybe, but mostly it's a story of how much you really don't want to interact with organisms in the tidal zone. But, you know, well-written and erudite and all that.

Caveat emptor--this is my brief recollection from having read this book a decade or so back.