The Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression, a book that galvanized--and sometimes outraged--millions of readers.

First 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 an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity. A portrait of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, of one man's fierce reaction to injustice, and of one woman's stoical strength, the novel captures the horrors of the Great Depression and probes into the very nature of equality and justice in America. At once a naturalistic epic, captivity narrative, road novel, and transcendental gospel, Steinbeck's powerful landmark novel is perhaps the most American of American Classics.

This Centennial edition, specially designed to commemorate one hundred years of Steinbeck, features french flaps and deckle-edged pages.

For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Item Information Item Information

Format: TradePaperback
Author: Steinbeck, John
ISBN: 9780142000663
Condition: Used
Dimensions: 8.40 x 1.30
Number Of Pages: 464
Publication Year: 2002

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Still affecting lives with the challenge to hope

Jeff W. - 3 years 3 months ago

The saga of the Joad family's dire trek from the Oklahoma dustbowl to California was read by millions at its 1939 release. The book was a huge hit with the public and has been firmly embedded in high school curricula essentially ever since. It's a book that can change the trajectory of lives and challenge people to hope. It is easy to forget how far the world has come, and how quickly. There were no Motel 6s for the Joads, and they couldn't live on credit cards until things looked up. Modern readers do well to contemplate just how few generations separate them and their indoor plumbing from the crippling poverty of forebearers. For the Joads, during the Great Depression, survival came before material well-being. With this family, Steinbeck shows us the pride and dignity of a people who have suffered the loss of everything. This American tale transcends America and is universal: Jews fleeing the Cossacks, the Vietnamese boat people, evacuees of Hurricane Katrina all understand what Tom Joad understands, namely that he'll endure; wherever you look, he'll be there. The Grapes of Wrath is adored by high-brow and low-brow. It lends itself to retelling: in 1940 John Ford adapted Steinbeck's book for the cinema. Decades later it was seen by the young Bruce Springsteen and it affects his work and our lives still today.
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Familial bonds drive perseverance.

Susan S. - 6 years 9 months ago

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a story about a family pushed around by the harsh realities of their time. They are pushed off their land by changing technologies and set out in search of a rumor of a better life. Their journey is, of course, fraught with difficulties, and the decisions they make are based on limited or faulty knowledge. Reading this story today, with our knowledge of history, we might guess that they are doomed right from the beginning. Yet they innocently persevere and stay together as much and as long as they can. They know that success means keeping those you love near. I really felt a connection to this family. Isn't their experience true for so many, even today? You do what you can, with what you know, and try to stay with the ones you love.
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Still affecting lives with the challenge to hope

Familial bonds drive perseverance.