John Steinbeck

As a prizewinning author of at least four major novels and several short stories and novellas of note, as well as nonfiction works in multiple genres and notably important contributions to journalism, John Steinbeck was a “household name” both in the United States and abroad throughout the middle and late twentieth century. His works remain popular to this day. Middle school students are highly likely to read The Pearl or The Red Pony in language arts classrooms. High school students are assigned The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men as required texts. And this month (July, 2003), American talk show icon Oprah Winfrey selected East of Eden as the initial novel for her resurrected, classi