John Steinbeck, like other books in the Twayne's United States Authors Series, provides a great overview of the author's life and critical interpretations of his works. Unfortunately, this edition was published in 1961–before Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature, before he wrote The Winter of Our Discontent or Travels with Charley. In 1994, Warren French published the updated book John Steinbeck's Fiction Revisited; I would recommend that book, as this one provides an obviously incomplete summation of Steinbeck's status as a great American writer.