Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters [Paperback]

John Steinbeck (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 1, 1990 | ISBN-10: 0140144188 | ISBN-13: 978-0140144185

Each working day from January 29 to November 1, 1951, John Steinbeck warmed up to the work of writing East of Eden with a letter to the late Pascal Covici, his friend and editor at The Viking Press. It was his way, he said, of "getting my mental arm in shape to pitch a good game."

Steinbeck's letters were written on the left-hand pages of a notebook in which the facing pages would be filled with the test of East of Eden. They touched on many subjects—story arguments, trial flights of worknamship, concern for his sons.

Part autobiography, part writer's workshop, these letters offer an illuminating perspective on Steinbeck's creative process, and a fascinating glimpse of Steinbeck, the private man.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Full of insights and revelations involving the gladness and terror of writing." —Chicago Sun-Times



"A sort of Travels with Charley across a more personal country." —The Boston Globe

About the Author

Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck is remembered as one of the greatest and best-loved American writers of the twentieth century. His complete works are available in Penguin Modern Classics. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books (December 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140144188
• ISBN-13: 978-0140144185
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Essays & Correspondence > Letters & Correspondence

More About the Author

John Steinbeck (1902-1968), winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, achieved popular success in 1935 when he published Tortilla Flat. He went on to write more than twenty-five novels, including The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

(What's this?)

#3 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Classics

#25 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

#38 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction

#3 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Classics

#25 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

#38 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended March 7, 2001

By C. Ebeling

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Steinbeck wrote the lengthy EAST OF EDEN saga straight through, from January to the first of November, in 1951. Every weekday, he sharpened his beloved pencils, sat down and warmed up, writing in the form of a letter to his friend and publisher, Pascal Covici. The letters he entered on the left side of the manuscript book Covici hand given him; on the right side, after clearing his mind and setting out the days' goals, he'd write his story, averaging about 1,500 words a day. JOURNAL OF A NOVEL collects those daily addresses to Covici, to whom EAST OF EDEN is dedicated.

On the one hand, JOURNAL OF A NOVEL is instructive in how to use journaling to order one's demons, to focus and forge ahead. More important, it brings the reader right up to the man, and Steinbeck is a fascinating person to know. At age 48 when he produced this, he is twice divorced, happily remarried a third time, engaged in fatherhood and transplanted to New York. He is a whittler, a tinkerer, an inventor. His credo is, why pay someone to do something badly that he can do just as badly himself. He maintains an active family, professional and social life that he chattily reports and offers some prescient observations on the Marshall Plan and MacArthur. He is not without his depressive cycles, but at this point in his life he is more understanding of them and never lets them interfere with his work. His resolve is extraordinary.

It is especially rich to read this following WORKING DAYS, the journal he kept as he wrote THE GRAPES OF WRATH. You get a sense of personal growth and a fuller sense of the middle of the 20th century through his eyes.

Highly recommended.

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but not revealing September 19, 2001

By Kenneth Blum

Format:Paperback

I am a major John Steinbeck fan, and rate Mr. Steinbeck as the finest writer in American history. However, I am lukewarm about "Journal of a Novel," Steinbeck's daily account of the trials of writing his most difficult work, East of Eden, from January through October, 1951.

I was hoping that the journal, addressed to his good friend and editor Pascal Covici, would reveal much about Steinbeck the writer and the man.

However, there is very little of the former except repeated brief accounts of the self-doubt and ups and downs a writer endures while creating a long and complex piece of literature. There are only hints of the technical or mental processes involved his writing.

And the same applies to autobiographical information about this period of his life. There is a lot of the trivia of daily life without the real depth of observation and feeling that is shown in other books of his letters.

He was a master at letter writing, and to find and know the real John Steinbeck, I strongly suggest "Steinbeck: A Life in Letters" edited by Elaine Steinbeck and Robert Wallsten.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique Insight into Workings of a Writer's Mind September 28, 2003

By Larry Triesman

Format:Paperback

This book gives the reader a unique insight into the day-to-day thoughts and workings of a writer's mind. Steinbeck may not be to everyone's taste, but he can't be denied his place in American literary history. It's difficult to imagine any writer being so honest about the problems he faced in trying to produce a book of this kind - an effort that is recorded every step of the way by this determined but troubled writer