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America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction Hardcover – February 4, 2002

by John Steinbeck (Author), Susan Shillinglaw (Editor), Jackson J. Benson (Editor)

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There is no writer more quintessentially American than John Steinbeck. More than thirty years after his death, he remains one of America's greatest writers and cultural figures. Yet his nonfiction-the writings in which he spoke directly about his world-has often been overlooked.

Now, Steinbeck's last published book is available again, along with a collection of his finest reportage, including the newspaper articles that inspired his masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath.

For thirty years, Steinbeck pursued a parallel career as a journalist, even as he won fame as a novelist. In America and Americans, Susan Shillinglaw and Jackson J. Benson offer a brilliant selection of his finest nonfiction. Here are Steinbeck's writings about Salinas, San Francisco, Monterey, and Sag Harbor; his moral and political commentary; his coverage from the battlefronts of World War II and Vietnam; his literary criticism; and his reflections on friends, Henry Ford, Robert Capa and Ed Ricketts. And most important of all is the primary text, America and Americans-an extended look at the nation he loved and criticized all his life. This remarkable volume offers a portrait of the artist as citizen deeply engaged in the world around him.

America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

America and Americans is a representative, noteworthy collection of John Steinbeck's journalism, including the title piece, actually his last book. Editors Susan Shillinglaw and Jackson J. Benson, who provide an able, informative introduction as well as succinct sectional prefaces, have wisely organized the book thematically rather than chronologically. There are travel pieces (including the hilariously bittersweet "The Making of a New Yorker"); political reflections (including three articles on California migrant workers, written before the last draft of The Grapes of Wrath, and a short screed on the spiritual oppression of communism, in which he writes, "Communists of our day are about as revolutionary as the Daughters of the American Revolution"); correspondence from both World War II and Vietnam; and snapshots of Ernie Pyle, Henry Fonda, and other friends. Not all the pieces are timeless, but most are sprinkled with bright gems--"Writers are taken seriously in Italy and are accorded the same respect that Lana Turner's legs get in our country"--and everywhere girded by deep concern and anger about social injustices. --H. O'Billovich

From Publishers Weekly

Few may remember that the Nobel Prize-winning novelist pursued a parallel 30-year career in journalism, but this collection (timed to mark the centennial of Steinbeck's birth) demonstrates that the author was a major journalistic voice in the mid-20th century. Of course, the pieces vary in quality: Steinbeck's travel writing, personal recollections and political journalism are more entertaining than his essays on craft or dated dispatches from war zones, and one questions why the editors, both Steinbeck scholars, chose certain brief reports. Still, Steinbeck's humor shines through in a number of fine essays, especially in one about a visit to his Sag Harbor cottage with two teenage sons, and another on his battles (in print) with a Communist newspaper in Italy. Three reports on the plight of California's migrant workers written in the mid-1930s before Steinbeck had finished The Grapes of Wrath shed light on the novel's roots. A particularly moving essay details the author's long friendship with Ed Ricketts, the man who found his way into Steinbeck's Cannery Row and The Sea of Cortez. The last 100 pages of the collection reprints his final book, America and Americans, in which the author offers a wide-reaching commentary on the American 20th century. "Journalism not only is a respected profession, but is considered the training ground of any good American author," wrote Steinbeck in 1966. Though this statement is no longer true, the collection shows that it certainly once was. (On sale Feb. 4) Forecast: No doubt publicity around Steinbeck's centennial will help sales to new readers as well as devotees.

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Product details

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult (February 4, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0670030627
ISBN-13: 978-0670030620
Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.5 x 9.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
Average Customer Review: 21 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,113,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2753 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical > Biographical
- #6636 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Authors
- #11331 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > United States

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Excellent books to have with you!!!

ByMylaon May 1, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Excellent book to have with you. Short stories that tell you the life and times of our fellow Americans then and there by a great writer. Light and easy reading, the spaces between words are just right, mild to the eyes, made of light, nice paper. Arrive quickly and in very good packaging. Another highly recommendable book is Speak Tagalog, A Basic Primer by Juanita de Guzman Gutierrez on sale at Amazon. You'll learn to speak Tagalog in an easy and quick way on your own time schedule wherever and whenever. Four children books that will make your budding readers a star reader on sale at Amazon by Gutierrez are The Blessed One, The Just One, Full of Grace, Chosen You Forever. Enjoy these books all at your fingertips at Amazon.

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Eloquent Essays on Morality Steal the Show

ByNeil Cotiauxon March 21, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

After reading just one novel by Steinbeck, I decided to see what he was like as a journalist. For me, this wide-ranging collection of observations, opinions, and witticisms reached its zenith with two back-to-back essays: "The Trial of Arthur Miller", in which Steinbeck parses the repugnant moral choices that his fellow writer faced when commanded to testify before Congress during the Communist witch hunt; and "Atque Vale", in which he very cleverly skewers the buffoons and bigots of the early civil rights era by examining the walk-on-water standards they set for "Negroes" in order to trip them up. Steinbeck is never better than when he is quietly seething; his fusillade of sarcasm proves highly effective.

In "America and Americans", which comprises the last quarter of this collection, there are some very interesting musings on the qualities, characteristics, and contributions of various immigrant groups; the contradictions of the American mindset (the hunger for home roots vs. our nomadic existence, for example); and a variety of spot-on sociological observations about our relationship to the land, with our leaders, foreigners, and one another. A&A ends with a positive note about the future, keyed to Americans' innate drive and optimism - a morale booster for some of us during our current trying times.

There's enough red meat in this book so you can pick and choose titles and close the cover with a feeling of fulfillment. Steinbeck was one gifted writer and an extremely opinionated man. And that's a satisfying one-two punch.

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An American Writer's View of his Home Country

ByWolfgang Aurbachon July 29, 2007

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

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.

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Pretty good

ByGive It To Mikeyon March 14, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Most of the stories are really interesting. It helps if you've read his other stuff first as many of the short stories are almost background research or related notes and commentary. If you haven't read his other stuff, you'd like it less. Worthwhile read.

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Wonderful read.

ByDebe W. Stattmilleron September 18, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

My daughter-in-law passed this book out at Christmas and when we get together (seven of us) for Sunday dinner we've used this as our "Book Club" discussion. Wonderful read.