California Reading discussion

Any other Steinbeck fans here? Some of his books are better than others. Which ones have you read, and what did you think of them?

Cup of Gold - 1929 - Novel
The Pastures of Heaven - 1932 - Short stories
The Red Pony - 1933 - Novella
To a God Unknown - 1933 - Novel
Tortilla Flat - 1935 - Novel
In Dubious Battle - 1936 - Novel
Of Mice and Men - 1937 - Novella
The Long Valley - 1938 - Short stories
Their Blood is Strong - 1938 - Nonfiction
The Grapes of Wrath - 1939 - Novel
The Forgotten Village - 1941 - Film
Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research - 1941 - Nonfiction
The Moon Is Down - 1942 - Novel
Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team - 1942 - Nonfiction
Cannery Row - 1945 - Novel
The Wayward Bus - 1947 - Novel
The Pearl - 1947 - Novella
A Russian Journal - 1948 Nonfiction
Burning Bright - 1950 - Novella
The Log from the Sea of Cortez - 1951 - Nonfiction
East of Eden - 1952 - Novel
Sweet Thursday - 1954 - Novel
The Short Reign of Pippin IV: A Fabrication - 1957 - Novel
Once There Was A War - 1958 - Nonfiction
The Winter of Our Discontent - 1961 - Novel
Travels with Charley: In Search of America - 1962 - Nonfiction
America and Americans - 1966 - Nonfiction
Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters - 1969 - Nonfiction
Viva Zapata! - 1975 - Film
Steinbeck: A Life in Letters - 1975 - Nonfiction
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights - 1976 - Fiction
Working Days: The Journals of The Grapes of Wrath - 1989 - Nonfiction
Steinbeck in Vietnam: Dispatches from the War - 2012 - Nonfiction

In my younger years I went through a time of reading quite a few Steinbeck California based stories and novels. Then I picked up a copy of his first novel, Cup of Gold.

Pirates in the Carribean.

What a let down.

(Obviously I love reading California literature.)

The full title of the book is Cup of Gold: A Life of Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer, with Occasional Reference to History.

I learned to dislike pirates.

Even though this was only his first novel, there were some brilliant passages to read. Excellent wordsmithing, for a young guy writing about disgusting pirates.



I read this immediately after reading the third-ever Newbery Medal Winner, The Dark Frigate, by Charles Hawes - another pirate novel.

Since that time I've never read another pirate novel.

Here's something interesting I just discovered. There's a book with the correspondence between Steinbeck and his editor.

Steinbeck and Covici: The Story of a Friendship