Customer Reviews

The Portable Steinbeck (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)

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If you enjoy reading Steinbeck stories this is a must... Great short stories and portions of all the greats... plus his biography... it was great

A great introduction to the quality of John Steinbeck's masterful writing. This is simply meant to be a broad survey of his work, not intended to be complete, yet is thorough nonetheless. Herein you will find representative short stories from The Long Valley and Pastures of Heaven, the complete versions of The Red Pony and Of Mice and Men, and excerpts from all his major novels. Novel excerpts are often tricky to present out of context, and often fall flat, but these selections, especially from The Grapes of Wrath, Tortilla Flat, and East of Eden are powerful pieces of literature, booming with the resonance of Steinbeck's voice. A book such as this is ideal for the traveler, casual reader, or initiate to John Steinbeck, and will most likely be the stepping stone for some to his complete works. A special bonus to this book is Steinbeck's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, discussing the responsibilities of a writer--one more testimony to his depth and brilliance.

The product description says "A collection of Steinbeck's work." It fails to say "excerpts from Steinbeck novels." In other words it does any of his complete novels -- just parts selected.