John Steinbeck | Brief Biography
John Steinbeck | Brief Biography
John Steinbeck was an American writer born on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California. He is considered one of the most prominent writers of the 20th century, and his works continue to be widely read and studied today.
Steinbeck was the third of four children in a middle-class family. He grew up in a fertile agricultural region and developed a lifelong interest in the lives of ordinary people and their struggles. He attended Stanford University, where he studied English and journalism, but he left without taking a degree.
Steinbeck’s first significant work was “Cup of Gold,” a novel about the pirate Henry Morgan, which was published in 1929. He then went on to write several other novels, including “The Red Pony” (1933), “Of Mice and Men” (1937), and “The Grapes of Wrath” (1939). These works, which were set in California and dealt with the lives of migrant workers and other marginalized groups, established Steinbeck as a leading voice of the American working class.
“Of Mice and Men” is a classic novella that tells the story of two migrant farm workers, George and Lennie, who travel together and dream of one day owning their own farm. “The Grapes of Wrath” is Steinbeck’s masterpiece, a sweeping novel that chronicles the lives of the Joad family, who are forced to leave their Oklahoma farm during the Great Depression and make their way to California in search of a better life. The novel was a critical and commercial success, winning the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, and it remains one of the most important works of American literature.
In the years following the publication of “The Grapes of Wrath,” Steinbeck continued to write, producing a number of novels, essays, and travelogues that explored various aspects of American life. He also served as a war correspondent during World War II, covering the conflict in Europe and the Pacific for the New York Herald Tribune.
Steinbeck’s later works include “East of Eden” (1952), “Sweet Thursday” (1954), “The Winter of Our Discontent” (1961), and “Travels with Charley” (1962), a nonfiction account of his cross-country journey with his poodle, Charley. Despite his success as a writer, Steinbeck experienced periods of depression and self-doubt, and he struggled with alcoholism throughout his life.
John Steinbeck died on December 20, 1968, in New York City, at the age of 66. His legacy as a writer endures, and his works continue to be widely read and respected for their insight into the human condition and their powerful portrayals of ordinary people and their struggles. 0 0 0.
Sources:
John Steinbeck, Biography.com, https://www.biography.com/writer/john-steinbeck
John Steinbeck, The Nobel Prize in Literature 1962.
John Steinbeck, The John Steinbeck Society, https://johnsteinbecksociety.org/john-steinbeck/
John Steinbeck, Encyclopedia Britannica. ***
N.B. The article originally belongs to the book entitled ‘Biographies of Writers Around the World‘ by Menonim Menonimus.
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