John Steinbeck, Saint Katy the Virgin

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“Saint Katy the Virgin” was originally published in a limited edition of only 199 copies by The Golden Eagle Press for Pascal Covici's Covici-Friede publishing firm in 1936 and was ironically offered as a Christmas gift for friends of the publisher; later the tale was included as one of the stories in

The Long Valley

in 1938, although it appears very out-of-place in the collection because its fable / fantasy-like structure is so different from the rest of the short fiction included there. Many Catholic believers of the time condemned the chronicle as blasphemy while still other readers appreciated and savored the coarse humor that was often invoked as a reason for the censorship of other Steinbeck works.

The story features Steinbeck's witty repartee and tongue-in-cheek humor while

1275 words

Citation: Meyer, Michael J.. "Saint Katy the Virgin". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 June 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2288, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2288 Saint Katy the Virgin 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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