Customer Reviews

America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction (Penguin Classics)

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As an educator interested not only in John Steinbeck's literature but also in his function as a cultural critic, I find this wonderful new edition, put together to coincide with a series of Steinbeck Centennial events going on all around America in 2002, to be a marvelous source of information. This will bring one of Steinbeck's lesser known and later works, "America and Americans," to the attention of many more people, and that text, which is both a celebration of the American experience and a cautionary warning about where we were headed, as Steinbeck saw it in the 1960s, would be a great selection for book club groups to read and discuss in this centennial year.

This 400+ page collection also has seven thematic chapters that explore Steinbeck's nonfiction and journalistic writing in these topic areas: places he loved, socio-political struggles, the craft of writing, friends and friendship, travel abroad, being a war correspondent, and miscellanea. This is great bedside reading: something delicious to dip into, eloquent and thoughtful, and one can jump around.

The editors are both noted Steinbeck scholars who are making this man accessible to the common people (we, the salt of the earth, whom he champions and celebrates in so many of his writings). Perhaps I am partial to John Steinbeck because I live in "Steinbeck Country," but I still think his works deserve our attention and study in the 21st century. He had a lot of significant insights--this book is a wonderful follow-up for those who have only yet experienced his fiction.

John Steinbeck (1902-68) wrote newspaper columns for two years during the 1950s in addition to reporting on the 1956 presidential nominating conventions and stints as a war correspondent during World War II and the Vietnam War. He also wrote some articles for magazines and the ruminations on America for a book of photographs that was his last book (and which fills about a quarter of this collection).

Always he wrote about his impressions, primarily of people. The best pieces in this collection are not accounts of foreign wars but of people in distinct places. Like Steinbeck's life, the book begins with Salinas, California, continues through San Francisco and New York City to Sag Harbor on Long Island, where Steinbeck lived in the 1950s and 60s. In the "Journalist Abroad" section there are strong pieces on people in Positano and Ireland. And there is a section on friends (all male, of course) including a long memoir of his idol and naturalist mentor, Ed Ricketts, and short but very illuminating memoirs of the popular WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle and the photographer Robert Capa (who accompanied Steinbeck on his Russian visit), plus concise tributes to Adlai Stevenson as an orator and to Henry Fonda as an actor.

The section "On writing" is regrettably short, and the selections of WWII colums from _Once There Was a War_ (a book which is in print) are mystifyingly missing the best ones, which Steinbeck wrote during the invasion of Italy. The Vietnam reports are unconvincing propaganda from what he presented as a war against Mao. (Brezhnev, perhaps, but not Mao!)

Many of the pieces are entertaining in the mock heroic Steinbeck manner of _Tortilla Flat_ and _Travels with Charley_ and some are moving. The text "America and Americans" had little impact. It certainly has not supplanted Tocqueville's analysis of democracy in America, but is not without interest. As generally for Steinbeck in fiction or nonfiction, the description of particular individuals is more interesting than the generalizations.

The editors provide useful introductions to the sections, but must think that Steinbeck's ideas and craft of the 1960s was the same as those of the 1930s. It is difficult but not impossible to find out when a particular piece was published but this vital information is not included in either the table of contents or with the title of the pieces.

This is only essential for hardcore Steinbeck fans, but his insight and singular turns of phrase pervade this prolific collection. Of particular note is his homage to his three best teachers, less than two pages long, called "...like captured fireflies." America and Americans is dated in parts, but his takes on corporations and America's obsession with children are prescient, and his indefatigable optimism essential. A different resonance than the novels, but of the same calibur.

Although overall this book is clearly inferior to some of Steinbeck's other works of nonfiction, it has its high points and is worthwhile for big fans. If you are not already familiar with Steinbeck's nonfiction, I suggest you read A Russian Journal, Travels with Charley in Search of America and Once There Was A War before buying this book.

Among the best pieces in this book are "I Am A Revolutionary," "The Soul and Guts of France" and "Terrorism." Aside from these three pieces - and a paragraph or two scattered here and there among some of the others - this book consists of fairly slow, relatively uninteresting and disappointingly uninsightful text. Still, it's Steinbeck, and if you've a big fan, then reading even his mediocre work is more fun than most things you could be doing with your time. Otherwise though, if you have a mere passing interest in Steinbeck or have not read the other works mentioned above, then either read his other material first or just forget about this book altogether.

Its present lackluster era notwithstanding, America still commands the world's attention and arouses curiosity. No matter how much we read about the country, how frequently we visit there, even live there for years, we have the nagging feeling that we do not understand its true essence. And that is not for want of pertinent information. The mass of available statistical data is beyond imagination. So is the daily, weekly and monthly output by journalists. There is no lack of in-depth analyses by eminent economists, sociologists and political scientists. And yet, it is hard to distill from all of the above an essence that speaks to me, the common everyday man. I am a native of Germany who spent most of his life in Brazil. I have always had a deep interest in American literature and have done my best to get a good glimpse of it, but even that is not an easy job. Whereas the name of John Steinbeck is fully familiar, I had always associated him with his California novels. Only recently did I take an opportunity to look at his postwar production and felt immediately attracted by the title 'America and Americans'. I certainly was not disappointed. The book offers in rich measure what is so hard to come by, the human aspect, offered in understandable, indeed beautiful language, by an unusually lucid observer. Even though the country and its society have changed dramatically over the forty years since the date it was published, the book looses nothing of its informative value. It provides a picture of a point in time, and tells of the values of that time. That is an excellent backdrop to contemplate the present moment and reflect on future options.

AMERICA AND AMERICANS AND SELECTED NONFICTION is a compilation of articles that John Steinbeck wrote during his journalism days from 1936-1966 and one of his last novels, AMERICA AND AMERICANS. With Susan Shillinglaw and Jackson J. Benson's helpful introductions for each short essay, readers can see how his real life observations and experiences resonate within his fictional works.

Steinbeck's writings are distinct and unique as a result of the deep connection he had with the people he encountered and the respective landscape in which they lived. The most compelling aspect about these articles and essays are the periods in which they were written -- from Great Depression to the War in Vietnam. These previously published nonfiction articles possess a part of Steinbeck's personal life that was poignant at times: "Indeed, the "Steinbeck" tone and "unmistakably American" approach could be the stamp on all his writing, whether about growing up in a California town or about French fishing habits in Paris -- it was American in spirit" (xv).

AMERICA AND AMERICANS AND SELECTED NONFICTION is a treasure to own. This is a great example of John Steinbeck's versatile style of writing that was historical and political as well as ironic. And with this in mind, Steinbeck aficionados or curious readers will find this book insightful.

Steinbeck, as he and the annotator in this book repeatedly declare, let his interests range freely in his choice of nonfiction subjects. The whimsical pieces darn near steal the show. There's an affectionate account of his old Model T, and how its radiator happened one day to spew hot oatmeal all over his mother while riding in downtown L.A. There's a self-deprecating sports article, in which he proposes the sport of oak tree racing. There are some quite funny and surprisingly touching dog stories. The man could make *anything* a joy to read!

But the meat of the "selected nonfiction" section is the 1930s reportage of the California migrants, which would later become the basis of his Depression novels. It is a searing experience even seventy years later, being made to watch formerly solid American citizens being ground into the mire by poverty, malnutrition, and hopelessness.

Even his much-denounced Vietnam coverage has unmistakably Steinbeckian passages of humanity. He goes for a combat patrol in an AC-47, a "Magic Dragon", and frankly confesses his fear. He flashes back to conversations with combat journalists and ordinary soldiers, who were killed very shortly thereafter. He accurately contrasts the omnipresent threat of guerrilla attacks with the more formal setpiece battles of previous wars--and portrays the confusion this arouses in the public back home.

The final bit is the republished _America and Americans_, which is one long cry of "Where are we going, and why are we in this handbasket?" Perfectly understandable for someone of his age and background encountering the Sixties for the first time... But even here his native American optimism refuses to let him despair. He concludes, "We have failed sometimes, taken wrong paths, paused for renewal, filled our bellies and licked our wounds; but we have never slipped back--never."

Penguin has published this delightful book of articles, essays and correspondent reports from the pen of John Steinbeck who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Steinbeck who died in 1968 is best known for his fiction including such great novels as "The Grapes of Wrath"; "The Winter of our Discontent"; "East of Eden" Tortilla Flat"
and many others.
Included in this book are Steinbeck's thoughts on such diverse subjects as:
a. Migrant workers in California.
b. Articles on his friends including Ed Ricketts, Henry Fonda, Woody Guthrie, Robert Capa and Adlai Stevenson.
c. Several late life ruminations on America culutre and the decline in morality in the national character.
d. Travel reports from his time in Paris and London. We learn about his life in New York and he shares memories of his youth in Salinas, California the source of much of his best fiction.
e. World War II and Vietnam combat correspondent reports.
f. A good article on his life in Sag Harbor as he interacts with his two sons; fights with Ospreys in the tree and discuss suburban life in the 1950s.
g. Several literary articles are inculded on the art of writing and dealing with critics.
Some of the articles were dull but others caught my interest. This is a good resource on the life and character of one of America's greatest authors. The articles are the American way of life are the best ones in the book. A good read for fans of Steinbeck, students of American literature and general readers.

There are people who truly reflect their time, or at least a period within their life, and what they believed about it. Steinbeck is one of those people. This book presents some of his best work. It also shows a change in the times and the man. Steinbeck's time, at least the time he addressed in his best writing was the depression, World War II, and some of the fifties. Unfortunately, he did not quit then, and some of his later work is the writing of a man grown disillusioned and sad.

This book takes us through many years, and many places. Much of it is well known. It's really great when the topic is a personal friend, or an unsuspecting stranger (the article written after the death of Ed Ricketts, or the article about a French village in the Alps shortly after World War II). It gives a consistent voice to the views of one man and his reaction to the world around him. Much of it has been popular from time to time, and much of it has always been unpopular with a certain group of people. It would be easier to pick out the `good' from the `bad' is they were arranged chronologically, but they are not. If you are a fan of good writing, the whole book is `good.' If you want to admire what Lee (in East of Eden) called `clean thinking' skip the end. By the time I got to the middle of `America and Americans' (about the last quarter of the book) it was getting old, and frankly I love Steinbeck's fiction so much that I could not finish it. By that time, it had become a litany of the complaints of my father, and the music was gone.

Critics argue about how great a writer Steinbeck was. One of their greatest criticisms was that he was too popular, or that he wrote for a popular following. That may be a valid criticism, and it may be one of the best reasons for reading his work. Which ever it is for you, it is here in abundance. The intimate details, the exacting prose, and the popular viewpoint. Whatever else we think, there is a Steinbeck voice that is unique, and worthy.

The strongest point in Steinbeck's writing is the sense of place. This book of non-fiction presents the land and the people. The real people and places who became Joad's, or Trask's, or sheriff's, are here in vivid detail. The Salinas of his youth, New York, France, Italy, traffic in Rome, and seaside villages are all vivid and inviting.

If you have read "The Harvest Gypsies" "The Log From the Sea of Cortez" "The Grapes of Wrath" or "East of Eden" many of the things in here will be familiar. If you have not, read this book. It may make them more appealing.