John Steinbeck

When Kino, an Indian pearl-diver, finds The Pearl of the World, he believes that his life will be magically transformed. He will marry Juana in church and their little boy, Coyotito, will attend school. Obsessed by his dreams, Kino is blind to the greed, fear and violence the pearl arouses in him and his neighbours. Written with lyrical simplicity The...

East of Eden, John Steinbeck's most ambitious and engrossing novel, unfolds in the rich and fertile farmlands of the Salinas Valley, California. This powerful narrative paints a vivid portrait of human struggle and the enduring quest for identity, love, and redemption, all framed within a family saga that transcends generations. The novel masterfully weaves together the destinies of two families,...

John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is one of the best-loved novellas of all time. Two drifters - small, shrewd George and huge, simple-minded Lennie - get work on a ranch, planning to raise enough money to get a place of their own and live off the land, if George can save his childlike, bull-strong friend from getting into trouble....

Set against the backdrop of the fertile Salinas Valley in California, East of Eden is a profound and compelling novel by John Steinbeck, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. This masterful narrative charts the intertwining destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—across multiple generations. Steinbeck's intricate portrayal of human nature and enduring exploration of moral themes...

The Winter of Our Discontent, Steinbeck's last great novel, focuses on the theme of success and what motivates men towards it. Reflecting back on his New England family's past fortune, and his father's loss of the family wealth, the hero, Ethan Allen Hawley, characterises success in every era and in all its forms as robbery, murder, even a kind of...

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a profound and evocative tale that captures the journey of the Joad family as they traverse the harsh landscapes of America during the Great Depression. As drought and economic hardship ravage their farming homeland in Oklahoma, the resilient Joads are driven from their beloved home and journey westward in a desperate bid...

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics—irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas, and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Drifters in search of work, George and his childlike friend Lennie have nothing in the world except the clothes on their back—and a dream that one day they will have some land of their own. Eventually, they...

A stunning new series look for one of the greatest writers of the 20th century in Penguin Modern Classics. Steinbeck's first major critical and commercial success, Tortilla Flat is also his funniest novel. Danny is a paisano, descended from the original Spanish settlers who arrived in Monterey, California, centuries before. He values friendship above money and possessions, so that when...

In 1960, nearly 60 years old and feeling detached from the landscapes and people of America, Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck embarked on a bold journey to reconnect with his homeland. He set out in a custom-built three-quarter-ton pickup truck, which he fondly named Rocinante after Don Quixote's noble steed. Aboard this miniature ship’s cabin and with only his loyal...

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck tells the poignant and compelling story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two drifters in Depression-era California. Striving to escape the cycle of poverty and instability, they cling to the dream of owning their own piece of land. As they travel from ranch to ranch in search of work, the deep bond between...

A superb story of power and beauty, critically acclaimed across the world and now available in a dyslexia-friendly, super-readable format accessible for all readers. Savvy George and gentle giant Lennie are drifters, hustling for a living in a string of dead-end jobs. George looks out for Lennie as they move from town to town, running from trouble and dreaming big....

Fifty new books at £1 each, celebrating the pioneering spirit of the Penguin Modern Classics series, from inspiring essays to groundbreaking fiction and poetry. Everything was dead, everything unreal; the dark mob was made up of stiff lay-figures One of America's greatest writers explores mob violence, voyeurism, and betrayal in these unforgettable tales of Californian life.

In the din and stink that is Cannery Row, a colourful blend of misfits—gamblers, whores, drunks, bums, and artists—survive side by side in a jumble of adventure and mischief. Doc, who owns the laboratory, is the fount of all generosity and wisdom. Everybody wants to do something nice for Doc—the trouble is, he always ends up paying. Packed with invention...

Jody Tiflin has the urge for rebellion, but he also wants to be loved. In The Red Pony, Jody begins to learn about adulthood—its pain, its responsibilities, and its problems—through his acceptance of his father's gifts. First, he is given a red pony, and later he is promised the colt of a bay mare. Yet both of these gifts bring...

A stunning new series look for one of the greatest writers of the 20th century in Penguin Modern Classics. The Pearl is Steinbeck's flawless parable about wealth and the evil it can bring. When Kino, an Indian pearl-diver, finds the Pearl of the world he believes that his life will be magically transformed. He will marry Juana in church and...

Sweet Thursday reads as a post-war continuation of Cannery Row. Set on the Californian coast, amongst the junk heaps and flop houses of Monterey, the book brings to life the denizens of a netherworld of laughter and tears. From Fauna, who runs the local brothel, to Hazel, a bum whose mother must have wanted a daughter, the rich tapestry of...

A stunning new series look for one of the greatest writers of the 20th century in Penguin Modern Classics. In the din and stink that is Cannery Row, a colourful blend of misfits—gamblers, whores, drunks, bums, and artists—survive side by side in a jumble of adventure and mischief. Lee Chong, the astute owner of the well-stocked grocery store, is also...

In 1940, John Steinbeck sailed in a sardine boat with his friend, the biologist Edward F. Ricketts, to collect marine invertebrates from the beaches of the Gulf of California. The day-to-day story of the trip is given in the log, which combines science, philosophy, and high-spirited adventure. This edition also includes Steinbeck’s profile of his fellow traveller.

A definitive edition of the iconic American author's most enduring novel, with an introduction and study notes. Drifters in search of work, George and his childlike friend Lennie have nothing in the world except the clothes on their back—and a dream that one day they will have some land of their own. Eventually, they find work on a ranch in...

A 75th anniversary edition of Steinbeck's undisputed masterpiece, a panoramic vision of the betrayal of the American dream. 'I've done my damndest to rip a reader's nerves to rags, I don't want him satisfied.' Shocking and controversial when it was first published, The Grapes of Wrath is Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Joad family, forced to travel west from...

Steinbeck's lyrical and moving novel, now in an elegant clothbound edition. The Pearl is Steinbeck's flawless parable about wealth and the evil it can bring. When Kino, an Indian pearl-diver, finds "the pearl of the world," he believes that his life will be magically transformed. He will marry Juana in church and their little boy, Coyotito, will be able to...

The classic novella from Nobel Prize-winner John Steinbeck explores the secrets of man's nature, the darkest depths of evil, and the luminous possibilities of love. Like his father and grandfather before him, Kino is a poor diver, gathering pearls from the gulf beds that once brought great wealth to the Kings of Spain and now provide Kino, Juana, and their...

A controversial tale of friendship and tragedy during the Great Depression, in a deluxe centennial edition Over seventy-five years since its first publication, Steinbeck’s tale of commitment, loneliness, hope, and loss remains one of America’s most widely read and taught novels. An unlikely pair, George and Lennie, two migrant workers in California during the Great Depression, grasp for their American...

Soon to be a Netflix series starring Florence Pugh The masterpiece of Steinbeck’s later years—at once a family saga and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis A Penguin Classic In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden “the first book,” and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the...

The masterpiece of Steinbeck’s later years—at once a family saga and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis. Part of the Penguin Orange Collection, Winner of the 2016 AIGA + Design Observer 50 Books | 50 Covers competition and a limited-run series of American classics designed with a modern take on the iconic Penguin paperback. A Penguin Classic In...

The final novel of one of America’s most beloved writers—a tale of degeneration, corruption, and spiritual crisis A Penguin Classic In awarding John Steinbeck the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Nobel committee stated that with The Winter of Our Discontent, he had “resumed his position as an independent expounder of the truth, with an unbiased instinct for what is...

Raised on a ranch in northern California, Jody is well-schooled in the hard work and demands of a rancher's life. He is used to the way of horses, too; but nothing has prepared him for the special connection he will forge with Gabilan, the hot-tempered pony his father gives him. With Billy Buck, the hired hand, Jody tends and trains...

A Penguin Classic Written at a time of profound anxiety caused by the illness of his mother, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck draws on his memories of childhood in these stories about a boy who embodies both the rebellious spirit and the contradictory desire for acceptance of early adolescence. Unlike most coming-of-age stories, the cycle does not end with a...

When an essay is due and dreaded exams loom, here's the lit-crit help students need to succeed! SparkNotes Literature Guides make studying smarter, better, and faster. They provide chapter-by-chapter analysis, explanations of key themes, motifs, and symbols, a review quiz, and essay topics. Lively and accessible, SparkNotes is perfect for late-night studying and paper writing.

A Penguin Classic In the two years after the 1939 publication of Steinbeck’s masterful The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck and his novel increasingly became the centre of intense controversy and censorship. In search of a respite from the national stage, Steinbeck and his close friend, biologist Ed Ricketts, embarked on a month-long marine specimen-collecting expedition in the Gulf of California,...

A Penguin ClassicFirst published in 1939, Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads—driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of...

A brilliant novella that is a fable about the dangers of unexpected wealth by great American novelist, John Steinbeck, author of The Grapes of Wrath. Kino is a desperately poor Mexican pearl-diver. But when he finds The Pearl of the World, he believes that his life will be magically transformed. Obsessed by his dreams, Kino is blind to the greed,...

Originally published at the zenith of Nazi Germany's power, Steinbeck's fable The Moon is Down explores the effects of invasion on both the conquered and the conquerors. Occupied by enemy troops, a small, peaceable town comes face-to-face with evil imposed from the outside and betrayal from within the close-knit community. As he delves into the motivations and emotions of the...

A brand new imprint from Penguin Classics Streetwise George and his big, childlike friend Lennie are drifters, searching for work in the fields and valleys of California. They have nothing except the clothes on their back and a hope that one day they'll find a place of their own and live the American dream. But dreams come at a price....

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck offers a profound exploration of the human spirit and the complexities of friendship and dreams. Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, this timeless classic follows two displaced ranch workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, who drift through California in pursuit of stable work and the elusive promise of a better life....

COMING THIS AUTUMN: A MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES STARRING FLORENCE PUGH The magnum opus of a giant of American literature, East of Eden is an epic, unforgettable family saga of blood ties and betrayal. 'There is only one book to a man,' John Steinbeck wrote of East of Eden. 'It has everything in it I have been able to learn about...

A stunning edition of the beloved modern classic from the Nobel Prize-winning author of The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men. 'The work of a great storyteller' - WASHINGTON POST California's fertile Salinas Valley is home to two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, whose destinies are fruitfully, and fatally, intertwined. Between the beginning of the twentieth century...

A controversial tale of friendship and tragedy during the Great Depression "A thriller, a gripping tale... that you will not set down until it is finished. Steinbeck has touched the quick." —The New York Times Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a classic novella that follows an unlikely pair: George, who is "small and quick and dark of...

Set in the rich farmland of the Salinas Valley, California, this powerful, often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations hopelessly re-enact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. Here, Steinbeck created some of his most memorable characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery...

An epic story of the nineteen-thirties' Depression which traces the story of one destitute family among the thousands who fled the Dust Bowl to the promise of California, The Grapes of Wrath awakened the conscience of a nation. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize on its appearance in 1939, Steinbeck's novel has been compared in its impact and influence with Uncle Tom's...

Just as the Iron Curtain fell on Eastern Europe, Steinbeck and Capa began a remarkable journey through the Soviet Union. Their travels took them to Moscow and Stalingrad. What they saw and recorded was what Steinbeck called the "great other side", the ordinary lives of Russian men and women. Combining Steinbeck's compassion, humour, and eye for detail with Capa's photographic...

John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley in Search of America is an evocative and personal narrative capturing the vibrancy, diversity, and spirit of America during a transformative era. In the autumn of 1960, driven by a yearning to reconnect with the land he chronicled so vividly in his literary career, Steinbeck embarks on a cross-country journey. Armed with Rocinante, his custom-designed...