John Steinbeck, The Short Reign of Pippin IV

Cecilia Donohue (Independent Scholar - North America)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1957

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Social, cultural, and political mores of the mid-20th Century are given an elegant send-up in

The Short Reign of Pippin IV

, which author John Steinbeck first published in 1957. In this novel, one Pippin Arnulf Héristal, vineyard owner, astronomy enthusiast, and descendant of Charlemagne, is named King of France when the incumbent elected president is dealt a resounding vote of no-confidence by the country’s varied political factions, whose leanings run the full spectrum of political philosophy.

Reluctant in his assumption of the throne and its trappings (he never warms to the notion of keeping a mistress and is fond of countryside rides on a motorcycle), Pippin at first oversees a brief period of good feeling and prosperity. However, it is not long before France enters a new phase

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657 words

Citation: Donohue, Cecilia. "The Short Reign of Pippin IV". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 June 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7729, accessed 10 May 2024.]

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