John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley in Search of America

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 1962

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Guidebooks / Travel writing

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Published in 1962,

Travels with Charley in Search of America

was John Steinbeck’s last important full-length work before his death six years later. While Steinbeck was best known throughout his career as a writer of fiction, most notably for

The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men,

and

East of Eden

, this memoir, chronicling his trek across the United States with his French poodle, became a national best-seller. Steinbeck’s travel itinerary upon departure from his home in Sag Harbor, New York – which included stops in Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, Michigan, Illinois, Montana, Washington, California, Texas, and Louisiana – seems random, and with few exceptions, Steinbeck never explains his site selections. Yet the thoughtful reader of this book can discern common threads amidst…

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Citation: Donohue, Cecilia. "Travels with Charley in Search of America". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 August 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8442, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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