Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Penguin Classics (2003), Edition: Reissue, Paperback, 448 pages
Description
A Penguin Classic More than four decades after his death, John Steinbeck remains one of the nation's most beloved authors. Yet few know of his career as a journalist who covered world events from the Great Depression to Vietnam. Now, this distinctive collection offers a portrait of the artist as citizen, deeply engaged in the world around him. In addition to the complete text of Steinbeck's last published book, America and Americans, this volume brings together for the first time more than fifty of Steinbeck's finest essays and journalistic pieces on Salinas, Sag Harbor, Arthur Miller, Woody Guthrie, the Vietnam War and more. This edition is edited by Steinbeck scholar Susan Shillinglaw and Steinbeck biographer Jackson J. Benson. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member JBreedlove
The last published book by Steinbeck. It is a collection of essays concerning a variety of topics but mostly on what he thought about the current state of America and Americans.
LibraryThing member kjforester
Many of the America and Americans essays, though written over 40 years ago, speak to the issues we face today, specifically his thoughts on the environment, big-money corporations and race relations.
Of particular interest is Steinbeck's essay on Adlai Stevenson and Governor Stevenson's eloquence
I cannot help but compare this to my own decision to support Barack Obama instead of Hilary Clinton. Steinbeck writes, "He makes their efforts sound so ill-conceived, clumsily thought-out and dull. The weighty sarcasms, moral indignations, the flaggy patriotisms and dingy platitudes which have been perfectly good in other elections are covered with gray dust in this year."
Read this wonderful collection of essays yourself and see how many are still relevant now.
Of particular interest is Steinbeck's essay on Adlai Stevenson and Governor Stevenson's eloquence
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during the Presidential race of 1952 against Dwight D. Eisenhower. He writes, "I know Mr. Stevenson only from pictures of him, from reading his history and from his speeches. I was for Eisenhower, knew about him and liked him." Steinbeck goes on to explain why he changed who he voted for, noting it wasn't looks or even Stevenson's accomplishments "because Eisenhower's contribution is second to none in the world and certainly overshadows the record of [Stevenson], no matter how good it may have been. I have switched entirely because of the speeches." I cannot help but compare this to my own decision to support Barack Obama instead of Hilary Clinton. Steinbeck writes, "He makes their efforts sound so ill-conceived, clumsily thought-out and dull. The weighty sarcasms, moral indignations, the flaggy patriotisms and dingy platitudes which have been perfectly good in other elections are covered with gray dust in this year."
Read this wonderful collection of essays yourself and see how many are still relevant now.
Show Less
LibraryThing member tnilsson
This is, in my opinion, Steinbeck's greatest and most thought-provoking book. Steinbeck seems to have really understood America and Americans, even though he refused to compromise his ideals in order to be liked by more Americans. An amazingly wonderful book and highly recommended to anyone who
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wants to better understand America or Americans (or who wants to better understand Steinbeck). Show Less
LibraryThing member MSarki
Much better book than expected. Steinbeck was way ahead of his time, and these essays could have been written now, in this frightful present day. I found these essays to ring especially true regarding the state of our country, the good old USA. Though a difficult, and rather too-intense an
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individual to remain forever close friends with, John Steinbeck was a good and honest man. What he saw and felt too often tortured him, and nothing could salve his open wounds. Show Less
LibraryThing member chrisblocker
America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction is two different books. One is Steinbeck's final book, a collection of essays published in 1966 entitled America and Americans. In this slender volume, Steinbeck's thoughts on the state of America were originally paired with photographs by acclaimed
The other book here is the Selected Nonfiction. Many people are unaware that throughout Steinbeck's career, the author was a prolific writer of short pieces of nonfiction. He published several hundred essays on a wide variety of topics. America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction includes fifty four of these essays.
Together, all these various pieces feel disjointed. Part of the problem was Steinbeck himself. Despite persistent views that Steinbeck was this or was that, he was an individual who chose not to become any one thing. He did not subscribe to a particular ideology and all that came with it. So, while Steinbeck may have been extremely far left leaning in some areas, he was very conservative in others. While he may have been very cultured, he was also very domestic. While he could be secular, he was also religious. Steinbeck was no one particular thing. As such, he succeeded in being offensive to a very large percentage of the populace. The same man who complains about the evil capitalism of the American corporation praises the American military in Korea and Vietnam for being above reproach. From one essay to the next, the result can be dizzying.
Those who've read Steinbeck extensively as I have will recognize many of the pieces. Selections from some of Steinbeck's published books such as The Harvest Gypsies, A Russian Journal, Once There Was a War, and The Log from the Sea of Cortez are present. Also here are a relatively small selection of those pieces Steinbeck published in various magazines from the 1930s through the 1960s.
There's nothing spectacular here, though there are moments here and there when Steinbeck shines. Particularly, I think of his chapter in America and Americans called “Created Equal” where he addressed the plight of the descendants of African slavery in a rather open-minded and forward-thinking way for a white man of his era. There's also nothing too surprising here, though, as I implied earlier, some of Steinbeck's views are jarring.
America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction is a Steinbeck book for the Steinbeck die hard. Casual readers of Steinbeck will likely grow bored of the book before reaching the end. Myself, I found some selections fascinating, some tedious, but most were little more than clever observations by an astute mind.
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photographers such as Ansel Adams, Gordon Parks, and Alfred Eisenstaedt (these photos do not accompany later editions).The other book here is the Selected Nonfiction. Many people are unaware that throughout Steinbeck's career, the author was a prolific writer of short pieces of nonfiction. He published several hundred essays on a wide variety of topics. America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction includes fifty four of these essays.
Together, all these various pieces feel disjointed. Part of the problem was Steinbeck himself. Despite persistent views that Steinbeck was this or was that, he was an individual who chose not to become any one thing. He did not subscribe to a particular ideology and all that came with it. So, while Steinbeck may have been extremely far left leaning in some areas, he was very conservative in others. While he may have been very cultured, he was also very domestic. While he could be secular, he was also religious. Steinbeck was no one particular thing. As such, he succeeded in being offensive to a very large percentage of the populace. The same man who complains about the evil capitalism of the American corporation praises the American military in Korea and Vietnam for being above reproach. From one essay to the next, the result can be dizzying.
Those who've read Steinbeck extensively as I have will recognize many of the pieces. Selections from some of Steinbeck's published books such as The Harvest Gypsies, A Russian Journal, Once There Was a War, and The Log from the Sea of Cortez are present. Also here are a relatively small selection of those pieces Steinbeck published in various magazines from the 1930s through the 1960s.
There's nothing spectacular here, though there are moments here and there when Steinbeck shines. Particularly, I think of his chapter in America and Americans called “Created Equal” where he addressed the plight of the descendants of African slavery in a rather open-minded and forward-thinking way for a white man of his era. There's also nothing too surprising here, though, as I implied earlier, some of Steinbeck's views are jarring.
America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction is a Steinbeck book for the Steinbeck die hard. Casual readers of Steinbeck will likely grow bored of the book before reaching the end. Myself, I found some selections fascinating, some tedious, but most were little more than clever observations by an astute mind.
Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
448 p.; 7.94 inches
ISBN
0142437417 / 9780142437414