Writer, born in Salinas, California, USA. He studied sporadically at Stanford (191925) before working in New York City as a reporter and bricklayer. He returned to California and worked at a variety of jobs until he could support himself as a writer. His fourth novel, Tortilla Flat (1935), was the first to gain him any critical or financial recognition. It was followed by In Dubious Battle (1936), an account of a California strike, and his well-known moral fable, Of Mice and Men (1937), which was adapted for a successful stage play and film. He lived and worked with Oklahoma migrants who were heading for California (19379), and from that experience he forged what is considered his masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath (1939). The novel revealed, once again, his love of the land, sympathy for the human condition, and his intolerance of the corruption and exploitation of the weak by powerful commercial interests. He worked as a foreign correspondent during World War 2 and during the Vietnam War (19667). His critical reputation declined in his later years despite such popular works as the novel East of Eden (1952) and a travel/memoir, Travels with Charley (1962), but he had written a number of modern classics and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962.
John Steinbeck|
Bust of Steinbeck in Monterey, California |
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| Born: |
February 27, 1902 Salinas Valley, California |
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| Died: |
December 20, 1968 New York |
| Occupation: | Writer |
John Ernst Steinbeck (February 27, 1992 – December 20, 1968) is one of the best known and most widely read American writers of the 20th century.
Seventeen of his works, including Cannery Row (1945) and The Pearl (1947), went on to become Hollywood films, and Steinbeck himself achieved success as a Hollywood writer, garnering an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing for Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat, in 1945.
Biography
Early life and work
Steinbeck was born to John Ernst Steinbeck II (a first-generation American of German descent, whose family name was originally Grossteinbeck), and Olive Steinbeck (born Hamilton) (also a first-generation American, but of Scots-Irish descent) in Salinas, California. Steinbeck's father worked in county government as the treasurer for the City of Salinas, and Steinbeck's mother, Olive, was a teacher.
Steinbeck enrolled at Stanford University in 1919 and attended off and on until 1925 when he officially left Stanford, without getting a degree, to pursue his dream as a writer.
Steinbeck's first novel, published in 1929, was the unsuccessful mythological work Cup of Gold.
His second wife Gwyndolyn Steinbeck (born Conger), gave him two sons. Thomas Myles Steinbeck was born in 1944 and his second son, John Steinbeck IV was born in 1946.
Critical success
Back in California, Steinbeck found his stride in writing "California novels" and Dust Bowl fiction, set among common people in the Great Depression. Harris approached Steinbeck to adapt his own novella as a stage play, although Steinbeck had no previous experience as a playwright, and did not consider himself up to the task. Because Steinbeck would ultimately write only two stage plays (his second was an adaptation of The Moon Is Down), and because Kaufman was an experienced writer, it is often assumed that Kaufman was Steinbeck's uncredited co-author. However, correspondence between Steinbeck and Kaufman verifies that the revisions were entirely done by Steinbeck.
The success of The Grapes of Wrath, however, was not free of controversy, as Steinbeck's liberal political views, portrayal of the ugly side of capitalism, and mythical reinterpretation of the historical events of the Dust Bowl migrations led to backlash against the author, especially close to home.
The film versions of The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men (by two different movie studios) were in production simultaneously, and Steinbeck spent a full day on the set of The Grapes of Wrath, then the next day on the set of Of Mice and Men.
1940s–1960s
In 1940, Steinbeck's interest in marine biology and his friendship with Ed Ricketts led him to voyage in the Gulf of California, also known as the "Sea of Cortez," where they collected biological specimens. Not only did he help Steinbeck while he was in the process of writing, but he aided Steinbeck in his social adventures. Ricketts' impact on Steinbeck was so great that Steinbeck decided to base his character "Doc" in Cannery Row, on Ricketts. Steinbeck's relationship with Ricketts would end when Steinbeck moved away from Salinas, California, to pursue a life away from his wife Carol.
During the Second World War, Steinbeck served as a war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune. Some of Steinbeck's writings from his correspondence days were later collected and made into Once There Was A War (1958).
He continued to work in film, writing Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944), and the film A Medal for Benny (1945), about paisanos from Tortilla Flat going to war.
In 1948 Steinbeck again toured the Soviet Union, together with renowned photographer Robert Capa.
Following his divorce of Gwyndolyn Conger, and the sudden, tragic death of his close friend Ed Ricketts, Steinbeck wrote one of his most popular novels, East of Eden (1952).
Following the success of Viva Zapata!, Steinbeck collaborated with Kazan on the theatrical production of East of Eden, James Dean's film debut.
Steinbeck was a friend to Presidents John F.
Steinbeck's last novel, "The Winter of Our Discontent", was written in 1961.
In 1962, Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his “realistic and imaginative writing, combining as it does sympathetic humor and keen social perception.” In his acceptance speech, he said,
"the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit – for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love.
In 1964, Steinbeck was awarded the United States Medal of Freedom by President Johnson.
In 1967, at the behest of Newsday magazine, Steinbeck went to Vietnam to report on the war there.
The day after Steinbeck's death in New York City, reviewer Charles Poore wrote in the New York Times: "John Steinbeck's first great book was his last great book.
Steinbeck's works are frequently included on required reading lists in American and Canadian high schools.
Political views
Steinbeck's literary background brought him into close collaboration with leftist authors, journalists, and labor union figures, who may have influenced his writing. Steinbeck was mentored by radical writers Lincoln Steffens and his wife Ella Winter, and through Francis Whitaker, a member of the United States Communist Party’s John Reed Club for writers, Steinbeck met with strike organizers from the Cannery and Agricultural Workers' Industrial Union.
While definitely sympathetic to the political left, Steinbeck's politics were considerably more ambivalent than those of some of his admirers.
Although the FBI never officially investigated him, Steinbeck did come to their attention because of his political beliefs, and he was screened by Army Intelligence during World War II to determine his suitability for an officer's commission. In 1948 a women's socialist group in Rome condemned Steinbeck for converting to "the camp of war and anti-Marxism" and in 1955 an article in the Daily Worker criticized Steinbeck's portrayal of the American Left.
In addition to the above mentioned information, Steinbeck was also a close associate with Arthur Miller, a playwright and author of Death of a Salesman and The Crucible. In the 1950s, Steinbeck took a personal and professional risk by standing up for his companion, who was held in contempt of Congress, for refusing to name names in the infamous HUAC trials, and Steinbeck called the time one of the "strangest and most frightening times a government and people have ever faced".
Works
Travels With Charley
In 1960, Steinbeck packed a trailer, and drove across the United States with his faithful poodle, Charley.
East of Eden
Steinbeck turned his attention from social injustice to human psychology in a Salinas Valley saga.
Of Mice and Men
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Of Mice and Men is a tragedy that was written in the form of a novel in 1937.
Film credits
1939 – Of Mice and Men – directed by Lewis Milestone, featuring Burgess Meredith, Lon Chaney, Jr., and Betty Field 1940 – The Grapes of Wrath – directed by John Ford, featuring Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell and John Carradine 1941 – The Forgotten Village – directed by Herbert Kline, narrated by Burgess Meredith 1942 – Tortilla Flat – directed by Victor Fleming, featuring Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr and John Garfield 1943 – The Moon is Down – directed by Irving Pichel, featuring Lee J. Cobb and Sir Cedric Hardwicke 1944 – Lifeboat – directed by Alfred Hitchcock, featuring Tallulah Bankhead, Hume Cronyn, and John Hodiak 1944 – A Medal for Benny – directed by Irving Pichel, featuring Dorothy Lamour and Arturo de Cordova 1947 – La Perla (The Pearl, Mexico) – directed by Emilio Fernández, featuring Pedro Armendáriz and María Elena Marqués 1949 – The Red Pony – directed by Lewis Milestone, featuring Myrna Loy, Robert Mitchum, and Louis Calhern 1952 – Viva Zapata! – directed by Elia Kazan, featuring Marlon Brando, Anthony Quinn and Jean Peters 1955 – East of Eden – directed by Elia Kazan, featuring James Dean, Julie Harris, Jo Van Fleet, and Raymond Massey 1956 – The Wayward Bus – directed by Victor Vicas, featuring Rick Jason, Jayne Mansfield, and Joan Collins 1961 – Flight – featuring Efrain Ramírez and Arnelia Cortez 1962 – Ikimize bir dünya (Of Mice and Men, Turkey) 1972 – Topoli (Of Mice and Men, Iran) 1982 – Cannery Row – directed by David S. Ward, featuring Nick Nolte and Debra Winger 1992 – Of Mice and Men – directed by Gary Sinise and starring John MalkovichBibliography
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Cup of Gold 1929 |
The Pastures of Heaven 1932 |
The Red Pony 1933 |
To a God Unknown 1933 |
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Tortilla Flat 1935 |
The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the Grapes of Wrath 1936 |
In Dubious Battle 1936 |
Of Mice and Men 1937 |
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The Long Valley 1938 |
The Grapes of Wrath 1939 |
Forgotten Village 1941 |
The Log from the Sea of Cortez 1941 |
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The Moon Is Down 1942 |
Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team 1942 |
Cannery Row 1945 |
The Pearl 1947 |
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The Wayward Bus 1947 |
A Russian Journal 1948 |
Burning Bright 1950 |
East of Eden 1952 |
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Sweet Thursday 1954 |
The Short Reign of Pippin IV 1957 |
Once There Was A War 1958 |
The Winter of Our Discontent 1961 |
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Travels With Charley 1962 |
America and Americans 1966 |
Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters 1969 |
Zapata 1975 |
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The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights 1976 |
Working Days: The Journals of the Grapes of Wrath 1938–1941 1989 |
Quotation
"Boileau said that Kings, Gods and Heroes only were fit subjects for literature. To symbolize himself, Steinbeck used the stamp of a Pigasus, a flying pig, and the phrase Ad Astra Per Alia Porci (To the stars on wings of pigs.) In recognition of Steinbeck's work with marine biologist Ed Ricketts, a sea slug species, Eubranchus steinbecki, was named after him in 1987. According to Thom Steinbeck, the older son of the author, the motivation for Travels with Charley was that Steinbeck knew he was dying and wanted to see his country one last time.
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