Easton Press "The Novels and Short Stories of John Steinbeck" Limited Collector's Edition, Leather Bound Matching Set, 6 Vols

The Novels and Short Stories of John Steinbeck - Limited Collector's Edition Matching 6-Volume Set.

Easton Press. Norwalk, CT. 1997. Limited Collector's Edition. A matching set that makes a monumental addition to the library of any serious collector. Bound in full genuine leather with elegant gold detailing. The "JS" series compilation; an attractive collection bound in rich blue and red leather with the "JS" on each spine. Each edition is illustrated with artworks. The Grapes of Wrath is illustrated with lithographs by Thomas Hart Benton.

This six volume collection from Easton Press includes:

1. East of Eden
2. Of Mice and Men
3. Tortilla Flat
4. The Pearl/The Long Valley
5. Cannery Row
6. The Grapes of Wrath

About
These are the works that earned John Steinbeck the Nobel Prize for Literature, as well as the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The represented works tell a number of stories, including that of two traveling ranch workers trying to work up enough money to buy their own farm/ranch, as well as of a family of sharecroppers who were driven from their land due to the dust storms of the Dust Bowl.

East of Eden is a novel by Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck, published in September 1952. Often described as Steinbeck's most ambitious novel, East of Eden brings to life the intricate details of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, and their interwoven stories. The novel was originally addressed to Steinbeck's young sons, Thom and John (then 6½ and 4½ years old, respectively). Steinbeck wanted to describe the Salinas Valley for them in detail: the sights, sounds, smells, and colors.

The Hamilton family in the novel is said to be based on the real-life family of Samuel Hamilton, Steinbeck's maternal grandfather. A young John Steinbeck also appears briefly in the novel as a minor character.

According to his third and last wife, Elaine, Steinbeck considered it his magnum opus. Steinbeck stated about East of Eden: "It has everything in it I have been able to learn about my craft or profession in all these years." He further claimed: "I think everything else I have written has been, in a sense, practice for this."

Of Mice and Men is a novella written by author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in California, United States.

Based on Steinbeck's own experiences as a bindlestiff in the 1920s (before the arrival of the Okies he would vividly describe in The Grapes of Wrath), the title is taken from Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse", which read: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley". (The best laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry.)

Required reading in many schools, Of Mice and Men has been a frequent target of censors for vulgarity and what some consider offensive and racist language; consequently, it appears on the American Library Association's list of the Most Challenged Books of 21st Century.

Tortilla Flat (1935) is an early John Steinbeck novel set in Monterey, California. The novel was the author's first clear critical and commercial success.

The book portrays a group of paisanos - literally, countrymen - a small band of errant friends enjoying life and wine in the days after the end of the Great War.

Tortilla Flat was made into a film in 1942. Steinbeck would later return to some of the panhandling locals of Monterey (though not the Spanish paisanos of the Flat) in his novel Cannery Row (1945).

The Pearl is a novella by American author John Steinbeck, published in 1947. It is the story of a pearl diver, Kino, and explores man's nature as well as greed and evil. Steinbeck's inspiration was a Mexican folk tale from La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, which he had heard in a visit to the formerly pearl-rich region in 1940. In 1947, it was adapted into a Mexican film named La perla and in 1987 into a Kannada movie Ondu Muttina Kathe. The story is one of Steinbeck's most popular books and has been widely used in high school classes. The Pearl is sometimes considered a parable.

The Long Valley is a collection of short stories written by the American author John Steinbeck. The collection was first published in 1938. It comprises 12 short stories.

The short stories were written over several years and are set in Steinbeck's birthplace, the Salinas Valley in California. They include the prize-winning tale The Murder; The Chrysanthemums, the representation of lynch mob violence in the The Vigilante; and the classic Red Pony tale.

Cannery Row is a novel by American author John Steinbeck, published in 1945. It is set during the Great Depression in Monterey, California, on a street lined with sardine canneries that is known as Cannery Row. The story revolves around the people living there: Lee Chong, the local grocer; Doc, a marine biologist based on Steinbeck's friend Ed Ricketts; and Mack, the leader of a group of derelicts.

The actual location Steinbeck was writing about, Ocean View Avenue in Monterey, was later renamed "Cannery Row" in honor of the book. A film version was released in 1982 and a stage version was produced in 1995.

The Grapes of Wrath is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962.

Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on the Joads, a poor family of tenant farmers driven from their Oklahoma home by drought, economic hardship, agricultural industry changes and bank foreclosures forcing tenant farmers out of work. Due to their nearly hopeless situation, and in part because they are trapped in the Dust Bowl, the Joads set out for California. Along with thousands of other "Okies", they seek jobs, land, dignity, and a future.

The Grapes of Wrath is frequently read in American high school and college literature classes due to its historical context and enduring legacy. A celebrated Hollywood film version, starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford, was made in 1940.