The Winter of Our Discontent
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
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 genuinely American.” Ethan Allen Hawley, the protagonist of Steinbeck’s last novel, works as a clerk in a grocery store that his family once owned. With Ethan no longer a member of Long Island’s aristocratic class, his wife is restless, and his teenage children are hungry for the tantalizing material comforts he cannot provide. Then one day, in a moment of moral crisis, Ethan decides to take a holiday from his own scrupulous standards. Set in Steinbeck’s contemporary 1960 America, the novel explores the tenuous line between private and public honesty, and today ranks alongside his most acclaimed works of penetrating insight into the American condition. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction and notes by leading Steinbeck scholar Susan Shillinglaw.
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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
One bad decision leads to another in this riveting American classic about the price of greed. Now a lowly clerk at a grocery store his family once owned, Ethan Allen Hawley is acutely aware that he’s a disappointment to his status-conscious wife and children. But when Ethan breaks his own moral code—betraying his honest boss and former best friend to regain material wealth—he must face the true cost of his choices and his heartbreaking fall from grace. Originally published in 1961, John Steinbeck’s final novel may be his most perceptive examination of the great social ills of his time (and ours): rampant materialism and the fallout from only looking out for yourself. Full of vivid prose, The Winter of Our Discontent is a dark, compelling read that might just be Nobel Prize winner Steinbeck’s masterpiece.
Customer Reviews
If you don't like this, you you don't know what a good book is
There are to many books out there waiting to be read. So I don't make it a habit to reread books. In fact I can count on one hand, books that I've read more than once. And this falls into that category. One of my favorites.
The winter of our discontent
I read this book about 20 years ago but just reading the title brings back the pleasure of reading it. I think I'll read it again. I have a first edition on my shelf. All of you please read it. You won't be sorry. Carol
Thematic
Steinbeck's last classic. Fresh from reading this, I'm astonished by the man's epic story telling ability. All Americans need to read all of this man's books. What an exceptional talent he was.