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John Steinbeck California Guide
A Journey into Monterey, Salinas,
Carmel and Pacific Grove
A Journey into Steinbeck's California by Susan Shillinglaw shows readers how towns like Monterey, Pacific Grove, and Salinas influenced the author of The Grapes of Wrath and Cannery Row.
Of Mice and Men, according to the author of A Journey into Steinbeck's California, 'is, perhaps, the book that makes readers out of more high school students than any other.' Known for classic novels like The Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row, East of Eden, The Pearl and The Winter of Our Discontent, as well as some great non-fiction includingTravels with Charley, A Russian Journal and Once There Was a War, John Steinbeck was a worthy winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962.
The author of A Journey into Steinbeck's California, Susan Shillinglaw, knows her subject intimately. As well as being Professor of English at San Jose State University, she is the Scholar in Residence at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas. John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California, and lived in various places throughout the state which influenced his writing so much.
John Steinbeck California Guide
Shillinglaw traces Steinbeck's personal and literary journey through California, and while this is in no way an in-depth biography of one of America's favorite authors, the reader gets to know Steinbeck in a more personal and intimate way.
The book is fully illustrated throughout, and we get to see Steinbeck's houses, the view through his window, see the landscapes he saw, the places he worked, meet his wives and his friends.
A Journey into Steinbeck's California is no dry academic study or biography, but a warm portrait of a man by someone who has the ability to see California through his eyes, to show us its influences on him, and to recreate the times in which he lived.
’Small Human Stories’
Steinbeck isn't particularly thought of as an author who turned his life into fiction, but his works like The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, Of Mice and Men and especially Cannery Row did come out of the writer's personal life and his loves and friendships.
In these pages we meet the characters who inspired him – personally as well as creatively in his work. 'With Steinbeck,' writes Shillinglaw, 'we can pay attention to the slant of afternoon light, catch some of the region's layered past, and get a glimpse of small human stories tucked into inland valleys.'
It's those glimpses of 'small human stories’ which make Steinbeck such a great writer, whose work will last longer than many of his contemporaries who were more interested in shouting about their own lives than in quietly describing the lives of other people. To Steinbeck ordinary people were extraordinary.
Susan Shillinglaw is a skilful and evocative writer herself. 'Steinbeck,' she writes, 'never again lived in the Salinas Valley once he left home at age seventeen. But the smells and sounds and sights of his home valley never left him.' For those of his readers who have not yet visited Steinbeck's California, this book in the impressive ArtPlace series from Roaring Forties Press is the next best thing.
Other book reviews
California Living and Eating by Eleanor Maidment is a handsome coffee table book celebrating the food and lifestyle of the Golden State with 80 tasty recipes.
Pacific Coast Highway Travel's guide to where to eat in Monterey including on Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row, fish restaurants and the best clam chowder.
Lighthouses of the Pacific Coast, published by Voyageur Press, is a guide in words and pictures to historic lighthouses along the Pacific Coast Highway.
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Moon's Spotlight Guide to the Olympic Peninsula covers hotels, restaurants, and sights, including Forks, the Olympic National Park and other places.
Pacific Coast Highway Travel's book review of Insider's Guide to San Francisco guidebook by Jill Loeffler, publisher of the San Francisco Tourism Tips website.
One of the best guides to West Coast RV Parks, covering campgrounds in California, Oregon, and Washington, is West Coast RV Camping from Moon Guides.
The Santa Barbara Guidebook from Moon Handbooks also covers California’s Central Coast with Ventura, San Luis Obispo, wine country, and Hearst Castle.
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The Frommer's Guide to Seattle has good information about the city and side excursions to the Olympic National Park and elsewhere, plus free city and area map.
The guide to California Bed and Breakfast Inns lists over 250 boutique hotels, wine country cottages and more.
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To John Steinbeck Monterey's Cannery Row was a place of sardine canneries, bums and honky tonks, but today the Monterey Aquarium attracts visitors.
The Los Angeles travel guide book from Lonely Planet also covers San Diego and Southern California, including Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, and Disneyland.
Northwest Wine Country is a food and wine lover's guide to vineyards, fine dining, accommodation, restaurants in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, British Columbia.
Pacific Coast Highway Travel's California Camping book review rates the 20th anniversary edition of Moon's complete guide to over 1400 tent and RV campgrounds.
101 free San Francisco attractions and things to do are in the Kindle guide, 101 Free Things to Do in San Francisco, in the Travel Free eGuidebooks series.
Pacific Coast Highway Travel reviews an Olympic Peninsula Travel Guide published by the Beautiful Pacific Northwest website.
Pacific Coast Highway Travel picks the best museums in Monterey including art and history museums, museums for families and the fantastic Monterey Bay Aquarium.
For a Monterey Inn just off the Pacific Coast Highway in California, the Mariposa Inn and Suites is hard to beat, providing good accommodation close to PCH.
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