Customer Reviews

The Other Side of Eden: Life with John Steinbeck

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I loved this book. It brought up so many raw emotions for me, that I was sometimes haunted for days after reading a few chapters. For anyone whose life has been touched by the disease of alcoholism, it is a source of great insight, grounded in honesty and the willingness to courageously tear back the curtain to show the dark side of a famous family.

The Steinbecks have been accused of writing "fantasies" about the great man by critics who claim to know more than family members. Incidents such as Steinbeck Sr. pushing his wife down the stairs in order to abort their child, or allowing John Jr. to fall on his face when told to jump into his father's arms are discredited as lies by people who have only studied the sanitized and authorized biographies and collections of letters.

I met recently met Nancy Steinbeck at a booksigning. I went because I wanted to talk to her about the way alcoholism has affected my family. She confirmed that although she had to divorce her husband because of his drinking and her fear of being held legally responsible for his accidents or debts, they legally established a commonlaw marriage and she continues to receive Steinbeck's royalty payments which she inherited from her husband. I found the book to be a loving tribute to a difficult but enormously creative and fascinating husband who was plagued by serious addictions.

Hazelden Foundation, the foremost treatment center in the country, has endorsed The Other Side of Eden as the story of a journey of victory over the disease of alcoholism and codependency. Anyone who is familiar with alcoholism knows that the way John Jr. died, with three years of sobriety, is a triumph and a cause for celebration.

This book is a Rorschach test for the reader. If you are committed to the sanitized version of Steinbeck that appears in the authorized biographies, if you are disturbed by any form of icoloclasm (witness Joyce Maynard's crucifiction for writing about Salinger) then this book will, indeed, upset your fantasy world and rattle your cage. If you are ready to take a ride of transformation and raw honesty, read the book. It is, as Andrew Harvey claims in his powerful introduction, one of the most unique biographies of the century.

I admire both John Jr. and Nancy Steinbeck for having the courage and commitment to tell their story for the sake of history and in service to others whose lives have been devastated by substance abuse. And, judging from the cover blurb by a Steinbeck scholar, I daresay most academics are appreciative that this story will be part of Steinbeck Sr's archives. There is a saying in the 12 step program: You Are As Sick as Your Secrets. The Steinbecks broke the silence of keeping family secrets, and that's a huge accomplishment. Let the groupie scholars who make a living on propagating the Myth of the Great Writer worry about whether their academic myopia will result in their own lack of credibility. Anyone who earns money glorifying the exaulted side of a writer while at the same time denying their shadow, is a fool. And who would have encouraged the Steinbecks more than the John Steinbeck Sr. himself to show a character, warts and all? Isn't that what Steinbeck is admired and loved for? His understanding of the human condition? How did he achieve that depth? If you want to find out, read the book.

I was honestly disappointed with the book. Though I found John Steinbeck IV's experience quite compelling, I was put off by the writing of his ex-wife, Nancy. The problem with this book was its uneven texture. Her narrative was largely ridiculous-allegations of sexual abuse, drug taking, promiscous sex with mutiple partners-what did all of this have to do with the relationship between Steinbeck father and son, the real heart of the story and cause for public interest? Personally, I think the book would have been much stronger had Nancy Steinbeck's experience not dominated the whole of the book. From what I read, there was no contact with John Steinbeck III. I was not interested in her. I was interested in the experience of a prodigal son who had one hell of a time trying to live up to his father's legacy and never returned home. I think what this book lacks is contribution from actual members of the Steinbeck family such as the mother or the other sons. Steinbeck wrote in an impartial, journalistic voice. This book should have included the opinions and experiences of real members of the Steinbeck family to provide the public with an accurate and sensitive touch.

This is one gem of a story, in fact, several stories. In flipbook-style, this book by John Steinbeck 1V, the famous author's son, and his wife, Nancy, deftly walks the line between memoir and expose. From growing up in an alcoholic home to growing up as adults inside a cult guru's enlightenment racket, the authors' dual recollections provide a number of deflating revelations, about the famous Steinbeck as well as the famous guru. I found especially interesting the dynamics between the Tibetan lama, Trungpa Rinpoche, and his American students, all brimming with devotion and lacking in personal authority, and the parallel with dysfunctional family systems. Trungpa Rinpoche appears as a drunken, crazy surrogate for the dysfunctional families of the authors. The ploys used to keep the power differential operating in the community of Rinpoche's followers mimic the betrayal and required secrets in the alcoholic family. At the time of the Steinbecks' involvement, the American zeitgeist was ripe with Eastern gurus telling psychologically vulnerable hippies, then yuppies what to do and how to live their lives. To the authors' credit, they eventually wake up to the pretense of waking up and embark on their own journey of deconditioning from familial ghosts and spiritual authoritarianism, but not before they hit bottom multiple times, wounded by alcoholism, codependence, and post-traumatic stress, and suffering the ostracism of their guru-adulating peers. The stories of emotional, physical, and spiritual recovery are compelling enough to maintain the reader's interest and stimulate consciousness. Well worth the read!

I'm reading this book in conjuction with Oprah's book club choice, East of Eden. I just had to respond to the person below who called the book boring, because I cannot put it down! People who drink alcholically are not weak minded, as the poster states. If self control could stop an addict, there would be no need for treatment centers and 12 Step programs. I found the story of recovery which weaves its way through John and Nancy Steinbeck's marriage to be tremendously inspiring and uplifting.
And I'm glad there's more to the book than an expose of Steinbeck's shadow side. This is an epic page turner which runs the gamut from the Steinbecks involvement with Beatniks, Hippies, Tibetan Buddhism, Viet Nam Vets, Anti-war protests,
Recovery, New Age gurus; it's truly a chronical for any baby boomer to find something that resonates in their own mythology.
The book has also helped readers on the Oprah Book Club board understand the psychological dynamics amongst the characters of East of Eden, as played out in the real lives of Steinbeck's sons. I love this book.

"The Other Side of Eden," is one of the most captivating books ever, in my view.
John Steinbeck Sr. was good friends with my late father, Ritchie Lovejoy,
and so I saw and knew the writer when I was a little boy, and also got to know his
sons, though they visited our Pacific Grove, CA, home infrequently. Once,
Johnny Steinbeck and I took a long hike from my home, through Del Monte
Property Co. Properties (Pebble Beach et al) and then into Carmel Valley. I
think Johnny was about 12. I never knew him as an adult. But even as a boy,
Johnny had an aura that made you know that here was an extraordinary human being.
What more can I say? This was a great, great book.

I'm just boggled over this book. It is such a compendium of amazing stuff and brilliant writing. Just amazing...

This biography of life with John Steinbeck is written by his son, who grew up in a privileged world of the intellectual elite, but one laden with abuse and estrangement. His memoir ended with his life and here is reconstructed by his wife of twelve years who adds her own insights to full out the life of John Steinbeck. Haunting and revealing.

This is a great book about Steinbeck IV. I found his account of his father's visit to Vietnam fascinating - truly moving account of father and son while the VC are [perhaps] stealthily moving in the night. Steinbeck IV served with AFNN in Vietnam - though not at the Saigon HQ where Airman Adrian Cronauer [played by Robin Williams in the movie Good Morning Vietnam] was. Bob Morecook AFVN News 72/73

I felt soiled after reading this book, but even beneath Nancy Harper's mean-spirited confabulations, John's intelligence and good heart shine through. Make no mistake, this is not at all John's book, but Nancy's attempt to settle scores with the many people in John's circle toward whom she held grudges, nearly all of whom are women. You might want to pass on this one.

This book is nothing more than a sad attempt to milk money from her dead father in law's name. This is simply a narcissistic woman who left her own children to 'find hersef'. She clearly has not succeeded! She never met John Steinbeck when he was alive. Not in anyway a true glimpse into Steinbeck's prolific life. Don't waste your money.

I checked this out of the library during one of my research 'attacks'. I was actually researching the life of Ed Ricketts and got dragged back into a Cannery Row-John Steinbeck 'binge'. I thought it would be interesting to read about John Steinbeck through the eyes of a son. However, the is very very little in this book about John Steinbeck and way too much about a weak-minded son. Boring. If you are interested in reading about someone who spends his life trying to find meaning in life via others (ie. cult life) and who cannot find strength within himself....who is too weak to deal with life without chemicals....this may be interesting to you. But there wasn't anything insightful here for me. Be warned....