John Steinbeck, Tortilla Flat

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 1935

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Published in 1935,

Tortilla Flat

was the first of John Steinbeck’s works to receive critical attention and acclaim. Written in a warm, conversational, storytelling voice that would characterize many other works of Steinbeck including

The Pearl

Tortilla Flat

provides a vivid, vignette-laden portrait of the paisanos, who sport “a mixture of Spanish, Indian, Mexican, and assorted Caucasian bloods” (2), as they navigate through life in the multicultural town of Monterey, California, a frequent setting of the author’s writings.

Tortilla Flat’s narrative is centred on two male characters. Upon his return to post-World War I America, Danny learns that he has inherited two houses from his “viejo” (grandfather), and the plot of the book focuses on the colorful characters who take up

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1401 words

Citation: Donohue, Cecilia. "Tortilla Flat". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 October 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8402, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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