Cannery Row
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4.6 • 10 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Steinbeck's tough yet charming portrait of people on the margins of society, dependant on one another for both physical and emotional survival
Published in 1945, Cannery Row focuses on the acceptance of life as it is: both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual. Drawing on his memories of the real inhabitants of Monterey, California, including longtime friend Ed Ricketts, Steinbeck interweaves the stories of Doc, Dora, Mack and his boys, Lee Chong, and the other characters in this world where only the fittest survive, to create a novel that is at once one of his most humorous and poignant works. In her introduction, Susan Shillinglaw shows how the novel expresses, both in style and theme, much that is essentially Steinbeck: “scientific detachment, empathy toward the lonely and depressed…and, at the darkest level…the terror of isolation and nothingness.”
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 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.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Unlike the unsparingly bleak Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row has a warmth that almost verges on a sort of nostalgia. Set in an industrial district of Monterey, California in the ’30s, the story looks at how the Great Depression fostered a sense of community among the downtrodden. The slim novel’s simple premise—the aftermath of a party that spins out of control—lets Steinbeck introduce us to a host of colorful characters whose quirks feel endearingly real. Given that Steinbeck lived in the area at the time the book is set, they may well be!
Customer Reviews
I Want to Find Cannery Row!
Such a beautiful book. Is there any character that is not likable in this story? So rich is Steinback's language. Truly one of the great writers of the 20th century!
Community Ecology
Steinbeck in his introductory chapter speak of marine organisms so delicate they must crawl onto the page themselves. Here is coastal California community rendered as an ecological whole, each character dependent on the others, and Doc, the "set apart" scientist who tries to comprehend the whole. Cannery Row is a uniquely-realized ecological novel that has rewarded many readings over the decades, and has had profound influence on myself as an individual.